Shinigami Yugi
by Fragments of Imagination
Summary: There's something about Yugi that not even the Other Yugi knew about, but after the gang encountered a creature that could fight Duel Monsters equally, Yugi decided it was time that he told everyone about his little secret. "Eeeh! You're over 1.000 years old!" "And here I thought nothing would surprise me anymore …" (AU, Yaoi. Characters might be OOC. Don't like, don't read).
1. Chapter 1

**Warning:** In this story, Yami and Atem are two different people. Also, Yami could transform into a weapon. I got the idea from an anime called 'Soul Eater', which I don't own, by the way. Aside from that, there's no other influence from Soul Eater, hopefully. This is going to be a short Fic, I think. Oh, and this story will have many flashbacks, since it was mainly about Yugi telling everyone his past adventure and real background story (real in this Fic, not in Canon) about a month after the Ceremonial Duel.

Chapter 1

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Gi Oh!**

 _Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

' _Telepathy'_

 _/Broadcast Telepathy/_

"Dialogue"

Letter

 **Emphasis**

 _ **Dangerous Tone / Spell**_

 _ **Prologue**_

"Argh!" A man cried out as he was thrown back and hit the floor of the cave he was in. He gritted his teeth as he glared at the one who threw him.

Standing across from the man was another man, but younger. He had a pale skin and slim figure, but still had some muscle in his body. He had three colored hair with black at the base which turned violet at the tips, and blond bangs. His violet colored eyes were narrowed in anger, and he looked murderous. "How amusing." The young man said coldly, "It's been so long since there's an Assassin who is stupid enough to mistaken me as Atem".

It was true that he and Atem could be mistaken as twins, for they shared the same face, but it was still easy to tell them apart. After all, there were some differences between them, the biggest being he was pale skinned while Atem was tan skinned. Also, his eyes and hair tips were violet, while Atem had Rose red eyes and hair tips.

"That's what you think." The Assassin sneered as he stood up and got into battle position, "But I haven't mistaken you as the Pharaoh, after all he was the one who paid me to kill you".

The young man inhaled sharply and took a step back, shock clearly written on his face. "He … what?" He asked in confusion.

"You heard me. The Pharaoh paid me to kill you, Demon Scythe Kkwy*." The Assassin smirked, "After all, who would genuinely care to befriend a Demon? He acted kind to you only because he's afraid of you, he didn't dare to say that he hate you on your face since he's afraid you would kill him. So, he paid me to kill you, so he could feel safe again".

 **(*AN: Kkwy – read: Kekewey – is Ancient Egyptian word for Darkness, I think. I'm sorry if I got it wrong)**

Kkwy couldn't think, couldn't feel as he slowly walked backwards in shock. His eyes were opened, and yet, he couldn't see anything. The only thing he could see was the memory that was being played in his mind, the memory of his first meeting with Atem, his best friend. The Pharaoh was still a Prince then, a mere 10 years old boy who looked up at him with fear in his eyes.

 _Do you really … afraid of me that much, Até?_ Kkwy thought sadly as he stood there, his back hitting the wall at the deepest part of the cave.

"Heh. Now that you understand, how about you do the Pharaoh a favor and just stay still as I kill you, huh?" The Assassin sneered again before he charged at Kkwy, making Kkwy looked up.

Kkwy didn't move though, only staring at the Assassin with emotionless eyes, and he let the Assassin to stab him through the heart. He was so numb inside that he didn't even feel the pain that should have accompanied the stab, didn't even feel as the dagger entered his body and pierced through his heart. His one and only friend – and Master – wanted him dead, so why would he try to stay alive? It would only hurt him more, and inconvenience his best friend, after all.

The Assassin smirked at him one last time, before turning around to leave.

Kkwy sighed as he closed his eyes, his body slumped as his strength left him, and his mind wandered as he waited for his body to shut down – trying to remember what he had done to make Atem feared him so. He couldn't think of anything that could make Atem so afraid of him, aside from himself being a Demon. Maybe the Assassin was right, maybe Atem was really too afraid of him to show it.

As his consciousness began to leave him, Kkwy could only think of one thing.

' _I'm sorry, My Pharaoh.'_

LINE~LINE~LINE

To be continued . . .

LINE~LINE~LINE

Froim: I know that I should update 'A Special Bond' instead of posting this, but the newest chapter is harder to write than I thought. While I thought of how I should write the newest chapter of 'A Special Bond', I ended up writing this story. This one is finished already though, so it shouldn't matter anymore now – I think.

So, how do you like my new story? Review Please ^ ^


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Gi Oh!**

 _Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

' _Telepathy'_

 _/Broadcast Telepathy/_

"Dialogue"

" _Speaking in Spirit form"_

Letter

 **Emphasis**

 _ **Dangerous Tone / Spell**_

 _He saw it, but he couldn't do anything to help. He tried to take over Yugi's body, but somehow he lost his access to the body. He could only watch, to bear witness of what was about to become of his Aibou (Partner)._

 _Yugi was being chased of a strange creature that looked like a mix between a wolf and a tiger, and if he didn't know any better, he would think that the creature was a Duel Monster. He knew that it wasn't thought, because he could feel it, the creature felt different from Duel Monsters._

 _He saw Yugi looked back from above his shoulder, and his expression turned to pure fear as the young King of Games saw the creature leaped into the air, jaws opened wide in a preparation to sink its fangs into Yugi's small body._

"NOOOO!"

Atem cried out as he shot up into a sitting position, his right hand stretched out in front of him, as if trying to reach something that was far away. He was panting as his mind finally registered what he was seeing. He wasn't in the desert. There wasn't any strange creature in sight, and more importantly, Yugi wasn't about to be ripped apart by sharp fangs. He blinked to make sure that he wasn't seeing things: that he really was in Yugi's room, sitting on his bed and in control of his body. Once he was sure about it, he let out a relieved breath and let himself fell back onto the bad, all tension steamed out of his – well, Yugi's – body.

 _Only a nightmare_. He thought to himself as he stared at the ceiling, trying to get his breathing back to normal. He couldn't though. He needed to make sure that it really was just a nightmare, that Yugi wasn't hurt. With another sigh, he closed his eyes and let his spirit being pulled back into the Puzzle. He opened his eyes once the sensation was over, and saw that he was standing on the hallway between his and Yugi's Soul Rooms. Inhaling deeply to prepare himself, Atem made his way to the door that led to Yugi's room. He raised his fist to knock, but the door was opened before he could.

"Mou Hitori no Boku (Other me)?" A boy who looked like an innocent version of him – but with pale skin and less blonde bangs, but with bigger size eyes – asked as he looked up at Atem in concern, "I felt your fear. What happened?".

Atem didn't answer, for he was busy checking over Yugi's whole body – well, spiritual projection of his body – for any injury at the moment. Once he was sure that Yugi was alright, he let out a relieved breath again.

"Mou Hitori no Boku?" Yugi asked again, but in a mix of concern and confusion this time, "What's wrong?".

"Nothing, Aibou, nothing's wrong." Atem answered with a smile, "I just had a nightmare, that's all".

"Are you sure?" Yugi asked as he moved aside to let the other in, "You were really scared just now".

"Yes, Aibou, I'm sure." Atem reassured him as he walked in, before they both walked carefully over to the bed and sat on it, "Now that I'm sure that I was only dreaming about it, I'm alright".

"What did you dream about again?" Yugi asked curiously, but also in worry. It wasn't rare for someone with a strong magical ability like them to have a premonition dream, so he was worried that it wasn't a normal nightmare that Atem was having.

Atem sighed as his nightmare was brought to the surface of his mind again. "I was dreaming about you being chased by a strange creature. It looked like a mix between a wolf and a tiger, and it was about to rip you to shreds using its fangs, but I couldn't take over your body to protect you." He explained as he wrapped his arms around Yugi and pulled him close, "I was so scared. I thought that the creature would kill you, and there was nothing that I could do to prevent it. I'm scared that I was going to lose you, Aibou".

Because Atem's eyes were closed as he held Yugi tightly to himself, he didn't see the spark of realization appeared in Yugi's eyes, before the younger boy smiled and held Atem back. "I'm fine, Mou Hitori no Boku." He said reassuringly as he patted Atem's back, "Don't worry about it. I'm alive and well, so there's nothing for you to be afraid of".

"Yeah." Atem whispered in answer, but he didn't lessen his tight hold on Yugi. "Aibou, do you mind if I sleep here tonight? I'm worried that I would have the same nightmare again if you aren't by my side".

"Sure, I don't mind." Yugi replied softly as he pulled back to smile at his Other Self, "Let's get back to sleep, shall we? We have a picnic with everyone tomorrow, after all".

Atem smiled back and nodded, before they lied down on the bed, with their arms still wrapped around each other. Yugi smiled again before closing his eyes, falling asleep soon after. Atem still awake though, his eyes taking in Yugi's serene expression as the boy slept.

It has only been a month after he and Yugi dueled each other in the door to the afterlife, performing a ceremony that would let him to finally get the rest that his weary soul deserved. Although in the end, he didn't go through with it.

He knew that it was his duty to get rid of the Millennium Items, and his reward to do it was finally able to go to the afterlife. He knew it, but couldn't force himself to step through the light that would take him to his old friends and families. Because deep inside his heart, at the very deepest part that he hid carefully from Yugi, he wished that there was another way to get rid of the Items without requiring him to go to the afterlife.

Fortunately for him, and for Yugi too as it turned out to be, his wish was answered.

 _Atem felt like he was a liar. He had told Yugi that he should be proud of himself, because he had succeed in letting him to have the rest that he deserved, and here he was – standing still right in front of the door to the afterlife, didn't have the strength to take the final step into the light._

 _It was at that moment that a figure flew out from the light and into the chamber that they were in. They looked at what or who it was, and they were surprised when they saw that it was the Divine Beast, Winged Sun Dragon of Ra – or as the Egyptian believed, the beast form of the Sun God Ra._

 _Atem, Ishizu, Malik, Rishid, and Yugi – who felt compelled to – immediately bowed to the God, and the rest of the group followed soon after (Seto and Mokuba did it reluctantly, of course)._

" _Lord Ra." Atem greeted him, since he was the Pharaoh, and therefore had to be the one to address the God, "If I may be so bold, may I ask the nature of your visit to us?"._

" _Atem, Son of Akhnamkanon." Ra greeted him back, "I have heard your deepest desire, and therefore I came here with an offer"._

" _An offer, My Lord?" Atem asked in surprise._

" _You seek to destroy the Millennium Items, and yet, it is also within your desire to remain here, in the realm of the living." Ra didn't say as a question, but Atem nodded his head nonetheless. "My offer is for you, My Child, to get your heart desire and stay beside the other half of your soul, and the Millennium Items – while not destroyed – will lose their power and became a mere accessory"._

" _How, My Lord?" Atem asked in confusion, "The only way I can stay with my Aibou is through the Millennium Puzzle, but if the Puzzle is destroyed along with the others, how will I stay with my Aibou?"._

" _While it is true that you need a Medium for your soul, but it does not have to be the Millennium Puzzle." Ra corrected him, "Therefore, you only need a different Medium for your soul to stay. If you accepted this offer, then you will be able to enter the afterlife at the same time that Yugi does"._

" _My deepest apologies for asking this, My Lord, but is there a catch?" Atem blurted out, before he gasped and covered his mouth with his hand. Near him, Yugi and the Ishtars also inhaled sharply._

 _Instead of getting angry though, the Winged Sun Dragon of Ra let out a laugh. "Oh, you are still as sharp as ever, My Child." He responded, "But do tell of what makes you think that there is a certain condition for my offer"._

 _Atem blushed in embarrassment and looked down on his knees. "I have no intention to insult you with this, My Lord, but as far as I remember …" He began, but trailed off and shook his head, before looking up at Ra again, "My apologies, but although that I am – indeed – your Child, my Patron God is Horus, and Lord Osiris has been my constant companion throughout my life as the Pharaoh Atem. You have rarely visited me, My Lord, due to the fact that I am your Darkest Son. I do not say that you harbor any ill feel towards me, but you do not harbor any special feeling towards me either"._

" _I have to say that you are mistaken, My Child." Ra replied, and the whole group somehow got the feeling that, if Ra could smile in his beast form, then he would. "You may be my Darkest Son, but you are my Favorite Son nonetheless – everyone's Favorite in fact, and my Strongest One." He explained gently and patiently, "As you have said yourself, I rarely visited you because you are my Darkest Son, but this I did to protect your soul. Should your soul come in contact with my Light too often, I feared that I might damage it, thus I stayed away from you. This fact is also why I envy Osiris, for he could stay by your side for as long as he wants without fearing of damaging your soul, while I could not"._

 _Atem blushed again, in happiness this time. "I'm honored, My Lord." He could only say that in response, too surprised to say anything else. No one could blame him though, it wasn't every day that he heard that he was the Favorite Child of all the Gods that he worshipped._

 _Again, everyone felt like they would see Ra smiled if he could in his beast form. "Back to the matter at hand, my condition for this offer is this." Ra looked back into the light and nodded._

 _Everyone was surprised yet again to see two other figures stepped out through the light. It shocked them even more knowing who they were, for the two figures were none other than Yami Bakura and Yami Marik._

" _My Lord?" Atem asked as he kept his eyes to the two other Yamis (Darkness), "Why?"._

" _Do not worry, I have a reason." Ra told them, gaining their attention. "I know what they had done, but I also know that they were under Zork influence when they did what they had done. I have decided to give them a second chance, now that the darkness within their heart is gone, and I want you, My Child, and your other half to guide them through their new life"._

" _They really … won't hurt us anymore?" Ryou asked timidly, staring fearfully at his Yami._

" _I cannot guarantee that they will be your ideal Yami, Child, but they will be better than before. That, I can promise you." Ra answered him gently, before turning to look at Atem and Yugi, "So, do you accept my offer, My Son?"._

 _Atem and Yugi looked at each other, before they nodded together at Ra. "Yes." Atem answered firmly, "Thank you, My Lord"._

 _Ra nodded back. "Very well." He replied in satisfaction._

 _The Millennium Items glowed brightly, catching everyone's attention, and it looked as if dark mist evaporated from them. Once that was done, the glow died down._

" _Now, the Items will be normal items, they do not hold any power within them, for it has been released back into the world. Although, you can still use them to channel the Shadow Magic within yourself." Ra explained to them, "You may also find some people within your circle of friends and acquaintances to have a little amount of Shadow Magic now, especially those who has been touched by the Shadows, but I am sure that you can lead them well to prevent any future disaster from happening." He then spread his wings, "I have to go. I will warn you now, as soon as you remove all of the items from, this place will collapse, so be sure to make haste in your way out"._

" _We will." Atem promised to him, "Thank you, My Lord"._

" _You are welcome, My Son. Take care." Ra replied to him, before flapping his wings and flew back into the light, and the door to the afterlife closed again after that._

 _There was a moment of silence as everyone was still taking in of everything that had been said, but slowly, they all got back onto their feet._

" _Mou Hitori no Boku?" Yugi's voice caught Atem's attention, for he was still staring at the door, wondering if it was all a dream or not._

 _He turned to Yugi and smiled, "Yes, Aibou?" He responded softly._

" _I'm happy that you decided to stay with me, with us." Yugi began softly, "But why? Don't you miss your old friends and family"._

" _I do miss them." Atem answered him with a nod, but he was still smiling as he walked over to Yugi, "But Aibou, I also have my friends here, and I'm sure I will miss you guys if I went to the afterlife"._

" _Is this really alright though?" Yugi asked in concern._

" _Everyone in there will understand." Atem reassured him, "After all, they have waited for 3.000 years, so I'm sure they don't mind waiting more"._

 _Yugi smiled at him and nodded, although he still looked a bit unsure. "Well, welcome back then." He said cheerfully to his other self._

 _Atem nodded back. "I'm back." He said in agreement. "But do you know, Aibou? The real reason why I can't leave this world yet?" He asked Yugi with a tilt of his head._

 _Yugi shook his head, "No." He answered with a curious look on his face, "Why?"._

" _Because you're in this world, Aibou, not in the afterlife." Atem explained as he reached out a hand and caressed Yugi's cheek lovingly, "Aside from the fact that you're my Hikari (Light) and I need you to stay sane and stable, but I don't want to leave you is also because I have fallen in love with you, Aibou"._

 _Yugi gasped and widened his eyes, his expression was shocked, and yet hopeful. "You– you do?" He asked quietly._

 _Atem's expression softened. "Yes, I love you, Yugi." He repeated softly, "Will you be mine?"._

 _Tears gathered in Yugi's eyes as he threw himself into Atem's open arms. "Yes! Yes, I will." He said happily before pulling back to look at Atem's eyes, "I love you too, Mou Hitori no Boku"._

 _Atem's smile widened before he leaned forward and kissed Yugi on the lips._

Atem smiled as he remembered that day, he was glad that he decided to get it out of the way and confessed his love to Yugi. If not, then he wouldn't be Lovers with Yugi now.

If his life story was a book, then he might added 'and they live happily ever after' as soon as he kissed Yugi, but he knew that his adventure wasn't over yet. He didn't know when his next adventure would begin, but he knew it would be soon. After all, the life of the God's Favorite Child couldn't be peaceful for a long time, or it might get boring. No matter how small or how big, there would be something new to bring excitement in his life, he just knew it.

With that thought, Atem closed his eyes, and finally let his mind rest.

XXXXX

The next day, the gang was gathering at the Kame Game Shop, since they planned to have a picnic together at the park. Jounouchi – or Jou for short, Anzu, Malik, Mokuba, and Seto – who was roped into this by Mokuba – had arrived at the Game Shop for awhile now, and since Yugi lived at the game shop, they only needed to wait for Ryou to arrive before they're good to go.

"So, how's Marik, Malik?" Yugi asked curiously, "Is he still causing trouble for you?".

"Well, he's still troublesome, but he's getting better in behaving himself." Malik said smugly.

' _Hey!'_ A voice rang out indignantly from within Malik's mind, which was expertly ignored by the boy.

"Good." Seto grumbled as he glared at the wall, "I don't need a psycho causing mayhem in the future tournament that I'm going to host".

"I'm sorry." Malik apologized as he looked down, knowing that he was one of the psychos who was causing mayhem during Battle City.

Malik, Marik, and Akefia – Ryou's Yami – might have been forgiven by everyone, but some people liked to hold grudge. So even though their past mistakes had been forgiven, it wasn't forgotten, and they had to gain everyone's trust first before they could be fully accepted into the group of friends.

Seto was also in the same boat with them, but while the gang – namely Jou, Anzu, and Honda – didn't fully trust him yet, they knew that they could rely on Seto if they needed his help – as long as Seto has something to gain in helping them, of course. That was where Yugi and Mokuba came into the picture, the both could easily think of what Seto could gain by helping them. If they couldn't think of anything that Seto could gain though, they could always fall back into their most lethal attack, which was the Puppy Dog Eyes of Doom attack. Little Masterminds, they were.

Ryou though, since he was only being possessed by his Yami, was easily accepted by the group. They just needed to find a way to get the boy more open with them, since the poor boy was too used to being alone that he began to close up to other people.

Speaking of Ryou, here the boy came. Anzu, who was looking outside at the moment, was the one who saw him first. "Ryou!" She greeted him with a wave of her hand.

Ryou looked up from the Ring that was on his chest and smiled at them, although he looked like he was confused about something. "Hi, guys." He greeted them, "I hope I didn't make you wait long".

"Only a few minutes, don't worry." Mokuba answered him cheerfully, before his expression changed into a curious one. "What's wrong?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, "Why do you look confused?".

Ryou looked down at his Ring again before looking up at Yugi, but as he did so, the gang could see that it was Akefia who was in control now. "Pharaoh." He began seriously.

Yugi closed his eyes for a second, and when he opened his eyes again, it was clear to them that Atem had taken control. "What is it, Thief King?" He asked seriously as well, knowing that Akefia wouldn't be looking that serious if there wasn't any real problem.

"Lord Ra said that the Millennium Items have lost all of their power, right?" Akefia asked for confirmation, so Atem nodded his head, "My Millennium Ring was acting up on our way here".

"What?" Atem asked in surprise.

"But how come?" Marik – who had taken control as well – asked in confusion, "I mean, we have tested the Items through one of Kaiba's trusted bodyguards before, and he couldn't use the Items for anything".

"I know. Why do you think I'm confused?" Akefia asked them agitatedly, "Ryou was walking when the Ring suddenly moved by itself, and one of the spikes was pointing at a random direction".

"Don't you think it's just broke?" Jou asked skeptically.

"Wait." Atem raised his hand to silence both Akefia and Jou before a fight could break, "Akefia, you said that Ryou was just walking normally?" He asked the Thief King.

"Yeah." Akefia answered with a nod.

"What did you think about before the Ring started acting up?" Atem asked thoughtfully.

Akefia blinked before narrowing his eyes as he tried to remember what he was thinking, before snapping his fingers. "I remember now." He said with a smirk, "I felt some strange energy from within the city, so I was wondering what it might be. What about it though?".

"Remember how Ra said that we can still use the Items to channel the Shadow Magic within us?" Atem asked them all, and they nodded their heads in answer, "The Millennium Items were so powerful before was because they held a great amount of Shadow Magic, but now that the Shadow Magic has been released back into the world, it is us who hold the Shadow Magic in our own person. What if when you – Akefia – were wondering what the strange energy that he felt, you unconsciously channeled your Shadow Magic into the Ring because you wanted to find out?".

"So …" Akefia began thoughtfully, "Because I channeled my Shadow Magic into the Ring, I activated its previous ability and it answered by pointing at the direction where the strange energy I felt was coming from?".

"It makes sense." Seto said in agreement, "Right now, the Millennium Items are like a mobile phone without battery, and the Shadow Magic within us is the battery. So when we channel our Shadow Magic into the Item, we can activate them and use their previous ability. That was why when Isono tried the Items, he couldn't use them, since he doesn't have Shadow Magic in him".

"Well, it's a good thing Aibou told us to bring the Items back with us then." Atem said with a smirk, "After all, they're still useful to us, even if they're useless to the other people that don't have Shadow Magic".

"Back to the matter at hand." Akefia said as he waved his Ring around, "If the Ring was – indeed –pointing at the strange energy that I felt, how about we check it out?".

"We should." Seto answered him seriously, "The Shadow Magic isn't the only power in this world. If there's a strange energy, then there's a chance that a foreign Magic user is in the city".

"I agree." Atem nodded his head in agreement, "We need to make sure that this being wouldn't harm us, or the other innocent people".

"What are we waiting for then?" Marik asked them with an evil smirk on his face, "Lead the way, Thief King".

Akefia huffed, but he did as he was told anyway. Without spoken words, the Ring glowed faintly and one of the spikes pointed at their left. With Akefia leading the way, they began to make their trip to the strange energy that Akefia had felt.

The Ring led them – strangely enough – to the park, and the sight that greeted then when they got there was so bizarre that they could only blink in surprise. Because there, in the middle of the park, was a young girl about Mokuba's age. She had silver hair that was tied into twin buns – one bun on each of her head – and a pair of purple eyes, and the said girl was currently petting a strange creature that looked like a mix between a wolf and a tiger. If they didn't know any better, they would think that the creature was a Duel Monster, and the girl was its Summoner.

"That creature …" Atem whispered in disbelief, gaining their attention, "It was the creature that I saw in my nightmare last night".

The girl looked at them, and they knew right away that the girl wasn't a human, since the girl's eyes were slit like the creature that she was petting. "Ah, what do we have here?" The girl said cheerfully, "A bunch of human teenagers".

"Who are you?" Atem demanded as he fingered his deck in his deck holder, preparing himself to summon a monster if needed.

"So cruel, Yugi." The girl pouted playfully, "I thought you would remember me at least. I'm too cute to be forgotten so easily, right?".

Atem blinked and exchanged glance with the others, wondering what the girl was talking about. They couldn't wonder about it for long though, since the girl spoke again.

"Well, I guess it's normal that you don't want to remember me." The girl smile then turned to a sinister smirk, "After all, who would want to purposefully remembering someone who tried to kill him?".

"What?" Anzu gasped in shock, "Why would you want to kill Yugi?!" She demanded angrily.

"Simple." The girl sneered, "He kept my future King away from me, and the only way to free him is by killing the boy." The girl then pointed at Atem, "Attack him! Leowolf!".

Seto snapped out of his shock faster than the rest, and he immediately pulled a card from his pocket. "Ring of Defense!" He called out while infusing the card with his Magic.

The Ring of Defense appeared and blocked the attack from the 'Leowolf' creature, before it disappeared again. It was enough to snap everyone out of their shock though, Atem, Marik, and Akefia immediately pulled out a card from their deck.

"Dark Magician!"

"Diabound!"

"Revival Jam!"

The three Yamis each summoned a monster.

"Well, three on two is not fair. Let's even the field, shall we?" The girl giggled as she raised her hand above her head, "Summon Minion! Thunderlion!" She cried out. A second later, a lion that looked like it was made from thunder appeared beside the girl. The girl then pointed at them again, "Leowolf! Attack the swordsman! Thunderlion! Attack the water creature!" She ordered before she took off running towards Diabound, shocking the gang.

"Does she plan to fight Diabound head on by herself?" Akefia asked in disbelief.

 _/Akefia!/_ Yugi's voice rang out in their mind, _/Don't underestimate her! She's the strongest Beast Tamer among Demons!/_.

"Wait, what?!" Akefia cried out before gasping when he felt a pain on his chest, he looked up and saw that the girl had hit Diabound's chest with her fist, with enough strength behind it to make Diabound stumbled backwards. "Diabound!" He yelled with a silent order in his mind to attack, and Diabound immediately attacked the girl with an energy blast.

Unfortunately, the girl avoided it.

"Well, seems like I have to help." Seto muttered before raising a card, "Come fort! Blue Eyes White Dragon!" The Blue Eyes appeared behind Seto and roared, Seto then pointed at the girl – since it was clear that the girl was the real enemy there. "Attack her!".

The girl gasped as he saw the dragon, before jumping back to avoid the Blue Eyes's Destruction Burst Stream. "Well, well." She muttered in awe, "I thought you're just a bunch of helpless humans." She then smirked at Atem – though she thought that he was Yugi, "It seems like you have decided to upgrade the level of the people you would befriend huh, Yugi".

Atem narrowed his eyes. He didn't understand what the girl was talking about. She kept talking as if she knew everything about Yugi, did she know Yugi from somewhere in the past? Before Yugi came in contact with the Puzzle. She said that Yugi kept her King from her, but there wasn't anyone with Yugi that could be this said King, and the only 'King' Yugi kept was Atem himself – which didn't make sense, since he didn't know the girl at all. So what was going on, exactly?

"Well, I have to say that you're kinda good for humans." The girl said as she evaded yet another attack from both Diabound and Blue Eyes, "But not good enough." She finished with her eyes narrowed.

Atem got a feeling that something had sneaked up to behind him, and he turned around to face it. His eyes widened when he saw that the other creature – Thunderlion – was leaping at him, with its jaws open wide as if to rip him apart. The scene was so similar with his nightmare, so much that he froze.

"Atem!" Jou cried out, pulling out a card to summon a monster to help, even though he knew that he would be too late already.

Atem blinked when he felt like he was being pushed, and then he suddenly found himself not in control of the body. He looked behind him to see that Yugi had taken control, and his eyes widened in fear – not for himself, but for Yugi's life. Everything moved slowly for him, as if the time's flow itself had slowed down, and he opened his mouth when he saw how close the creature was to Yugi. _"Ai–!"_ He started to call out for his Aibou, but the word got stuck when he saw Yugi's shadow leaped into his hand and formed a huge black Scythe – like that of a Shinigami (God of Death), and the creature's attack was blocked by it.

Everyone stopped their movements, even the strange Duel–Monster–like creatures, to look at Yugi. The gang was gaping in shock, the Duel Monsters were surprised, while the strange creatures were indifferent, and the girl looked gleeful out of the blue.

"Finally!" The girl cried out gleefully, snapping their – the gang's – attention to her, "It's about time you start fighting me seriously, Hoshikage Yugi!".

"Hoshikage?" The gang muttered to themselves in confusion.

Yugi hmph–ed as he moved his Scythe expertly and cut the strange creatures in half, making it cried out in pain before dissolving into many pieces of black glass shards. Yugi didn't even bother to look at the creature as it happened, for his attention was fully on the girl. "Stop this nonsense, Alice." He snapped to the girl, "I told you, he's mine and he doesn't want to go with you or the rest, so just find another King!".

"I can't do that." Alice moved her finger from side to side. "No one else qualified to be the King, you know? I and everyone else are just on the average level, and he is the strongest one, so we want him to be our King and lead us." She explained slowly, as if she was talking to a little child, "Besides, I just need to kill you, so he would have no reason to stay in the human world anymore. I will kill you and force him to return to the Demon Realm, even if it's the last thing I do".

"Stubborn, aren't you?" Yugi asked her as he got into a battle position, Scythe held securely in his hands.

"As if you can talk." Alice replied as she – too – got into a battle position, her nails grew longer and sharper like claws.

The Duel Monsters – feeling that their interference wasn't needed, and knowing that Yugi could win this by himself – backed off to watch the upcoming fight between Yugi and Alive, even though Atem and the others didn't order them to. The remaining strange creature – Leowolf – also backed off, feeling confident that it's Master could win against Yugi.

Both Yugi and Alice stared at each other with narrowed eyes, before they charged at each other without warning. Each of them trying to land a hit on the other, without taking any hit themselves. It was a close fight, one that captivated the watchers.

"Haaaah!" Alice cried out as she made a fast clawing motion.

Yugi moved to the side just in time to avoid the wind slashes, for it was what it was – which was proved by the claw shaped cut marks on the wall where Yugi was earlier.

Yugi took a stance and his Scythe glowed darkly, but the glow was layered with white light – making the deadly weapon looked beautiful. "You're wide open!" He told Alice as he swung his Scythe, so fast that it was a blur. But instead of just creating a distortion in the air like when Alice's attack was launched, Yugi's attack could be seen clearly by the crescent shaped black energy – that was layered with white light – that moved round and round like a boomerang, and was speeding towards the Demon girl.

The people who were watching knew that Alice wasn't fast enough to defend herself, or evade the high speed attack, and she knew it too. She was saved though, for the Leowolf jumped in front of her and took the attack itself, protecting the girl.

Alice growled as she saw her beast got destroyed, and she glared at Yugi, while a swirling black colored portal appeared behind her. "This isn't the end!" She told him before she turned around, then disappeared through the portal.

Yugi let out a relieved sigh as he dropped his battle stance, so he was just standing there while holding his Scythe loosely. He looked at all of the Duel Monsters and nodded at them to let them know that the danger was over, and they nodded back at him before dissolving like a dark purplish smoke, returning back to the Shadow Realm from which they came from.

"Yugi." Jou called out to him.

Yugi looked at where his friends were standing and saw the confusion on their faces. "I got some explaining to do, don't I?" He asked them while smiling hesitantly.

"Yeah." Seto answered as he crossed his arms.

Yugi sighed again, in resignation this time. "Let's get back to the game shop." He told them with a smile, "I will explain everything there".

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To be continued . . .

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Froim : Review Please ^ ^


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Gi Oh!**

 _Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

' _Telepathy'_

 _/Broadcast Telepathy/_

"Dialogue"

" _Speaking in Spirit form"_

Letter

 **Emphasis**

 _ **Dangerous Tone / Spell**_

"Oh, you're back already?" Mutou Sugoroku – also known as Yugi's Grandpa – asked them in surprise, "I thought that you went to the park to picnic".

"Something came up, Jii–san (Grandpa)." Jou explained to him, "The Ring picked up some strange energy, so we checked it out".

"Oh, I see." Sugoroku commented, before looking at Yugi in a fond exasperation, "Your life is never uneventful, isn't it, Yugi".

"You know it, Sugoroku–chan." Yugi answered him with a smirk on his face, surprising everyone, "If it isn't eventful, it will be boring don't you think?".

"'Sugoroku–chan.'" Sugoroku repeated the words with a grimace, "It's been a long time since you called me that." He said with an amused snort, "So you decided to finally tell them your real background story then?".

"Something like that." Yugi answered casually as he walked pass the elder man towards the stairs, before looking back at the rest from above his shoulder, "Are you coming, minna (everyone)?" He asked them with a raised eyebrow.

The gang snapped out of their stunned state and quickly followed after Yugi, before together they made their way to the living room upstairs and each either took a seat, or leaned on the wall.

"So, you aren't exactly who everyone thought you're?" Akefia asked to the point with his arms crossed from his spot on the wall, across from where Yugi sat.

"Yeah, kind of." Yugi admitted sheepishly.

Marik looked around in confusion. "Where's your wicked Scythe again, Chibi Hikari–chan?" He asked curiously when he couldn't find it.

"I'm not that small." Yugi pouted at him, before shaking his head. "My Scythe is here." He answered the question as he reached out his hand towards his own shadow, before – right in front of everyone's wide eyes – his hand sinking into the shadow. Then, as he pulled out his hand, the Scythe came out from the shadow as well, right in his grip.

"That's …" Jou struggled to form his sentence, "A form of Shadow Magic, isn't it? Like, a literal Shadow Magic".

"Yes, it is." Yugi confirmed Jou's thought with a nod of his head.

"But how?" Anzu asked in confusion and surprise, "If I understand it correctly, then your Magic is a Light one, right?".

"Well, I can use a bit of Shadow Magic, but not fully." Yugi explained, "I can summon monsters like the Yamis – though it's harder for me to do it than the Yamis – and I can use the shadow to store some things, but that's about it. I can do no more than that, since I'm a Hikari, and my Magic is a Light one".

"That doesn't explain how you can do Shadow Magic." Seto pointed out at him, "Even though the people who had come in contact with Shadow Magic – bar the schizophrenic ones, like Yami's earlier victims – gained the ability to use Shadow Magic recently, but the Hikaris have their own brand of Magic, which is the Light Magic. So, how come a Hikari like you can use Shadow Magic outside of through your connection with your Yami?".

"Before I explain that …" Yugi trailed off as he stared at his Scythe, "Hey, Yami? Why don't you change back and show them your true form?" He asked his Scythe, confusing the others again.

In the past, the gang had called the Other Yugi as 'Yami no Yugi' or 'Mou Hitori no Yugi' – except for Yugi, since he always called the Spirit 'Mou Hitori no Boku' – since the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle didn't remember his name, or any of his memories for that matter. So, they didn't understand why Yugi called out the name 'Yami', while it was clear that he wasn't addressing the Pharaoh.

The confusion cleared from their face a second later, but only to change into shock, when the Scythe glowed darkly for a bit before its shape began to change into a human one. When the light died down, they could see that, standing in the place where the Scythe was previously was a boy that looked about their age, and looked exactly how the Pharaoh looked like when he took over Yugi's body.

The only difference was, instead of wearing leathers and buckles like the Pharaoh, this boy was wearing black and red armor clothing. He was wearing a pair of black pants, his torso was covered with a black armor lined in red, two black leather belts with red buckles hugged his waist while crossing each other, a pair of black boots covered his feet, and his attire was completed with a red cape that fell like a curtain on his back – similar to how Atem wore his school jacket.

The Pharaoh's replica let out a yawn as he rubbed his eyes with one hand, while his other hand was still holding Yugi's hand. It was after he was done that he saw the look on everyone's face. "What?" He snapped at them in annoyance.

"You– you look exactly like the Pharaoh when he took over Yugi's body." Akefia explained in shock.

Yami frowned and looked at Yugi, who pointed at the spot beside him, where the see–through Spirit of the Pharaoh was sitting while staring at Yami with open mouth. Yami's frown deepened – he felt like something was nagging on the back of his mind, trying to be released, but he ignored it – before looking back at Akefia. "He is tan skinned, I'm pale skinned." He pointed out in a bored manner, "How come we looked exactly alike?".

"He said that you look exactly like the Pharaoh when he took over Yugi's body." Marik explained slowly to him, before turning to Yugi, "How about you let the Pharaoh took over, Yugi? Then this Yami could see what we meant by that".

Yugi shrugged and nodded in agreement. The Puzzle glowed faintly, before Yugi's appearance changed into that of the Pharaoh. Atem didn't say anything though, he just continued his staring at Yami's form.

"Oh, I see what you meant now." Yami said with a nod of his head, "It sure is strange." He mused with interest, "It's like I'm looking into a mirror".

Atem titled his head to the side, before suddenly, his appearance shimmered and changed a bit. Instead of pale skinned, his skin now gained a light tan. His previously violet eyes and hair tips changed as well, they became red like rose. His previous appearance – which was actually Yami's – was intimidating enough, but his new one was even more intimidating, since his rose red eyes would darken into blood red one when he was angry.

"I think, I was borrowing your appearance this whole time, and your name before this." He said finally, looking at Yami thoughtfully, "When I woke up after Yugi solved the Puzzle and I took over Yugi's body for the first time, your image appeared in my mind, and thus I used my magic to make Yugi's body became just like that, since I thought that it was my real appearance".

"That … makes sense, I guess." Yami admitted thoughtfully, "You were suffering from amnesia, after all, so you wouldn't remember how you truly looked like".

' _Yami.'_ Yugi called out to Yami telepathically, gaining Yami's – as well as Atem's – attention, _'Help me out a bit, would you? So everyone could see and hear me. It will help if we want to tell them our story'_.

Yami nodded his head and snapped his finger, before his own shadow leaped up and covered Yugi's Spirit form. A second later, Yugi's form was no longer transparent, and everyone could see them by the surprised looks on their faces.

"Test one, two, three." Yugi tried to speak out loud, "Can everyone hear me?" He asked them.

They nodded silently, too shocked to speak. A moment of silence later, Atem finally blinked his eyes and came out of his shocked state. "Yugi, did Yami just give you a body?" He asked curiously, but his surprise was still present in his eyes.

"No, he didn't." Yugi shook his head, "Yami just used his Magic to let me be seen by everyone, but I'm still a Spirit, so no one could touch me except for Yami or you, Mou Hitori no Boku".

"You're full of surprise, aren't you." Mokuba commented after letting out an amazed whistle.

"Don't worry, the surprise isn't over yet." Yugi reassured the young boy, with a mischievous smirk on his face.

Yami let out a long breathed through his nose, before walking over to sit beside Yugi, on the opposite side from Atem. "Let's just begin the explanation, Master." He suggested as he took Yugi's hand into his own again.

"I told you to call me Yugi." Yugi complained with a cute pout on his face, which was ignored completely by Yami, causing the King of Games to sigh. "Well, let's begin with an introduction." He decided as he looked at the others, "Minna, this is Yami. He is my–"

"Possession." Yami cut in.

"–Sword and Shield, in a sense." Yugi said as though Yami never spoke, "And I'm his–"

"Master." Yami cut in again, earning an annoyed look from Yugi, but he just smiled back innocently.

"–Partner." Yugi corrected him, "As you have seen, Yami could change into a Scythe at will".

"I heard one of you – I'm not really sure who – asked how a Hikari like my Master could use Shadow Magic, is that right?" Yami asked them.

"Yes, that's right." Seto answered him firmly with a nod of his head. Like Akefia, he was also standing while leaning on the wall across from Yugi.

"Well, my Master could use a bit of Shadow Magic because of the Contract that he has with me." Yami explained to them, "I don't know if it's considering as a curse or a blessing, but the Contract also enabled Yugi to live forever".

"How did you meet each other, Yami?" Atem asked the boy – voicing everyone's question, "And how long ago that was, by the way?".

"Well, it was 1.000 years ago." Yami stated bluntly, again shocking everyone.

"Eeeh?! You're over 1.000 years old?!" Jou cried out in shock as he looked over at Yugi, who nodded silently in confirmation. He sighed and looked away, "And here I thought that nothing would surprise me anymore …" He mumbled to himself, but everyone could hear him anyway, and they (all of them except for Yami and Yugi) – too – thought about it secretly.

"Before explaining how we met …" Yugi began as he looked at Yami, "How about to make it clear to everyone, just who and what are you exactly, Yami".

"Alright." Yami nodded his head in agreement, before turning to address everyone again. "I'm a Demon Scythe." He began to explain, "Just like how Werewolves can change shape into a wolf whenever they want, I too can change shape into a Scythe whenever I want. Due to some reason that I refuse to talk about, I ran away from my birth place, the Demon Ream. I never return there ever since".

Yugi pulled his hand out of Yami's grip to clap it once – gaining everyone's attention, before holding Yami's hand again. "Well, now that that was out of the way, let's start the explanation of how I met Yami." He said to his friends and other self, "1.000 years ago, I was just a normal 15 years old human boy who was nothing special".

"I beg to differ." Yami countered him right away, "Even back then, you were – and still are – a very special boy".

"Oh shush you." Yugi muttered with a blush, before clearing his throat to continue with his story, "Back to the story, I was crossing the desert on my return trip from Egypt to my home in Nubia. I don't know if I was lucky or unlucky that day, because I came across a creature that looked like Alice's Leowolf, forcing me to run for my life".

"Oh!" Atem gasped in realization hearing that, "It was the scene in my nightmare!" He stated as he looked at Yugi for confirmation.

"Yes, Mou Hitori no Boku, it was." Yugi confirmed with a smile, reaching out with his free hand to hold Atem's hand. "It was actually my memory that you saw last night, not a nightmare." He elaborated further, "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you the truth then".

Atem shook his head. "It's alright, Aibou." He said reassuringly with a gentle smile on his face, "Please continue though, I want to hear the rest of it".

Yugi nodded his head in agreement and opened his mouth, "Okay, so …"

 _Yugi was panting as he ran, gradually growing weak from both the running and the harsh sun above him. He looked back to see if the creature was still following him, and fear immediately engulfed him when he saw the creature leaped up at him. Its jaws open wide, and its fangs glistening dangerously in the sunlight. Yugi cried out in fear as he dove to the side to evade the creature, then did a roll to get back to his feet, before turning to the creature._

 _On an impulse, he kicked out the sand at the creature's direction when it was about to leap at him again, causing the creature to halt and rubbed its head to try and get rid of the sun. Yugi took this chance to run again. He saw a cave ahead of him, so he headed over there to hide. It was probable a stupid action on his part, since the creature would just find him by following his scent, but he was panicking and couldn't think clearly._

 _He ran following the path until he got to the very back of the cave, only to stop short in shock and fright. The reason being, on the wall at the end of the cave stood a boy that looked a bit older than him. The boy had three colored hair like him, but with some of the blonde bangs shot up like lightning on his head, and the color of the boy's hair tips was violet instead of amethyst like Yugi. It was Yami, but he didn't know it at the time._

 _Sure, it was shocking to see a boy who looked like him, but it wasn't what was frightened Yugi so much that he halted in his run. It was the fact that – although the boy looked like his was asleep while in a standing position – he could clearly see that the reason the boy was standing, was because of the dagger that had stabbed him through the heart._

"Hold on!" Jou cut in while holding his hand up, causing everyone turned their attention from Yugi to him, "If he was stabbed, then how is he still alive?" He pointed at Yami, who narrowed his eyes in response. Jou laughed nervously, "Please, no offense man." He said to the Demon.

"If you will just listen to the story that my Master has taken his time to tell you …" Yami began to tell the blonde boy calmly, although his annoyance could be seen clearly in his eyes, "Then you will know the answer to your question".

"Alright, alright." Jou replied as he held his hands up in a calm–down motion, "I will be quiet now".

Yugi sighed and shook his head at Yami's antics, before deciding to just continue with the story.

 _A noise from behind him caused Yugi to jump and turned around in fear, only to gulp at the sight that greeted him. The creature from before had found him, and was currently baring its teeth at him. He whimpered as he walked backwards to try and get away from the creature, but it just followed him step by step. Yugi looked around to see for a way out, but didn't find any, he was really cornered._

 _He couldn't flee, so he had to fight the creature somehow if he wanted to stay alive. In his desperation, he pulled the dagger from the boy on the wall without thinking about it – causing the boy to fall over – and stood facing the creature with the dagger in hands, all the while trembling in fear. It was all for nothing though, for the creature easily knocked the dagger out of his hand with a swipe of its paw._

 _Yugi whimpered again as he thought that he would be dead for sure, but before he could even close his eyes in fear, a dagger flew through the air and buried itself into the creature's skull._

"Who threw it?!" Akefia asked Yugi eagerly. Being the King of Thieves who loved using daggers like he was, of course he would be interested when he heard that someone could throw a dagger with enough strength to kill such a creature.

"Him." Yugi answered simply by pointing at Yami, making everyone looked at Yami, who shrugged nonchalantly.

"I'm Immortal." Yami finally explained to them – as calmly as he could – as he laid his head onto Yugi's shoulder, and he purred happily when Yugi – after pulling his right hand out of Yami's grip, again – patted him on the head. "A mere stab through the heart wouldn't kill me, it just made me fall asleep." He continued slowly and absentmindedly, too busy feeling like a puddle of goo under Yugi's soft touch to think clearly, "As soon as the Dagger was out of my heart, it healed right away, and I woke up. The sight that greeted me when I opened my eyes that time was my Master being cornered by the creature, and since I couldn't exactly let a small boy like that to get killed, I picked up the discarded Dagger and threw it to the creature".

"I was shocked, of course." Yugi told everyone with a smile on his face, but his hand never cease in its movement in patting Yami's head lightly, "I was grateful nonetheless".

 _Yugi's eyes widened when he saw the creature broke apart into many pieces of glowing glass shards, before the shards disappeared into nothing. He blinked his eyes to make sure that he wasn't seeing things, before turning to look at where the dagger came from, only to gape openly when he saw that the boy that he thought was dead earlier, was in fact alive and awake now._

" _Are you alright, boy?" The boy's voice snapped him out of his shock, and Yugi nodded his head in answer, since his voice was still lost to him. "Have you hurt anywhere?" The boy asked again as he approached Yugi, his eyes moving to check Yugi over._

" _N– No." Yugi answered vocally at last, before bowing to the older boy, "Thank you for saving me"._

 _The boy nodded his head in response, "You're welcome." He replied softly._

 _They stood in silence after that, the both of them didn't know what to say, since they were practically strangers to each other._

" _Umm …" Yugi offered his hand shyly, while glancing up to the older boy through his bangs, "My name is Yugi, Hoshikage Yugi. Nice to meet you"._

 _The boy stared at him for a few seconds, before nodding and shook hands with Yugi. "I'm Kkwy." He introduced himself shortly, "Nice to meet you as well, Yugi"._

"'Kkwy?'" Atem, Akefia, and Marik asked in surprise.

"What?" Yami asked them in confusion.

"Yugi said that your name is Yami, so why did you introduce yourself to Yugi as 'Kkwy'?" Atem asked him with blinking eyes, "I know that Kkwy means Darkness as well, but why the change in language?".

"Be patient." Yami said dryly, "The reason for your question will be answered in due time, so just be patient for now and listen." He didn't give them a chance to response before looking at Yugi, "Please continue, Master".

"Sure." Yugi replied with a shrug.

" _If you don't mind me asking …" Yugi began uncertainly, "How are you still alive? I mean, you had a dagger pierced through your heart earlier"._

 _Kkwy – who was in the middle of picking up the aforementioned dagger – stared at Yugi again, before looking away. "I'm a Demon." He explained softly, but cautiously, "Such little thing like a stab wound won't kill me"._

" _How nice." Yugi commented with a cute pout, surprising Kkwy – if the widened eyes were anything to go by, "If it was me, I would be dead already"._

 _Kkwy stared at him again, before chuckling in amusement. "This is the first time, I think, that someone said that to me." He told Yugi as he stood up, before walking over to Yugi while slipping the dagger into his right boot, "The other humans would be afraid of me as soon as they heard that I'm a Demon"._

" _I guess I'm not your usual human then." Yugi said cheerfully with a cheeky grin._

 _Kkwy smiled back, clearly being taken by Yugi's charm already. "So, where is your home, Yugi?" He asked curiously, "I will escort you to your home, if you want. Just in case another demonic beast appeared again"._

" _Really? Thank you!" Yugi expression brightened at the offer, clearly happy that he didn't have to travel alone anymore. "My home is in Nubia, and my house is at the outskirt of the Kingdom"._

" _Let the way then, Little One." Kkwy bowed playfully to Yugi as he gestured to the entrance of the cave with his hand._

"So, that was how we met." Yugi finished the first part of the story.

"Why do I have a feeling that there's more to the story?" Atem asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"Because there's more." Yami replied to him as he reluctantly pulled apart from Yugi, so that he could address everyone properly. "We have covered the part where I met my Master, but not the events that lead to Yugi creating a Contract with me yet".

"Well, please tell us about it then!" Mokuba requested eagerly, clearly very interested in the story.

Yami sighed again, feeling reluctant to tell them the rest, but he could only smile when he felt Yugi's hand caressing his cheek. "Alright, I will tell you." He said finally, "So, here we go …".

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To be continued . . .

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Froim : Review Please ^ ^


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Gi Oh!**

 _Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

' _Telepathy'_

 _/Broadcast Telepathy/_

"Dialogue"

" _Speaking in Spirit form"_

Letter

 **Emphasis**

 _ **Dangerous Tone / Spell**_

" _So, what makes a young boy like you traveled alone in a desert like this, Yugi?" Kkwy asked to break the silence as they walked side by side. Although, he really was curious about it as well._

" _Wait a minute." Yugi pouted at him – seriously, did the boy not know just how cute he was when he did that? "You must be thinking that I'm 12 years old or something, right? I'm 15 years old already!" He complained cutely._

" _15?" Kkwy repeated in surprise, since – just as Yugi suspected – he thought that the boy was only 12 due to how short and small the boy was._

" _Yes, 15." Yugi repeated firmly with a nod of his head._

" _Oh, well." Kkwy shrugged nonchalantly, "So, why were you alone?"._

 _Yugi looked down and kicked the sand lightly. "I don't know how long you have been asleep back in the cave, but there has been a plague that hit this Nubia recently." He explained softly, "Almost my whole family became victims of the plague, only I and my Cousin survived. I'm rather weak bodied, you see, so my family sent me to Egypt to protect me from the plague. Now that it's safe to return, I had to travel alone, since no one was available to come and get me, considering that my Cousin was busy helping the people that are weak because they are still recovering at the moment"._

 _Kkwy fell silent, for he didn't know what to say to that. He wasn't born through childbirth after all, so he didn't know what it felt to lose a family member. Before he could think of something to say though, he froze up in place, while his hand caught Yugi's and forced the boy to stop as well._

" _Kkwy?" Yugi asked him in confusion._

" _Quiet, we aren't alone." Kkwy hissed at the boy quietly, his eyes searching around for the presence that he had felt not longer than a second ago._

 _An evil laugh then echoed through the silent night, causing them to swirl around to face the source. An old man with short spiky grey hair stood not too far from them, and his black eyes were staring at them mockingly._

"What the–?!" Malik – who took control at that moment – gasped out in shock, "Who was that?!".

"Well, I'm not really in the mood to tell a long story, so I guess I will just summarize it." Yami mused to himself, before looking at Malik, "That man was the previous King of Demons, and he hated my guts, since I'm stronger than him even when I was at my worst. Simply put, he wanted to kill me." He explained casually, as if it was a normal thing for him. Although, considering how he had lived for more than 1.000 years old, so it was really a normal thing for him. "That day though, I had just woken up from a really long sleep, so I couldn't fight to my fullest, and I had to enlist Master's help. That was when I first showed my Scythe form to my Master, and he used me to kill the Demon King".

"You said it as if it was my doing." Yugi protested at him with a cute pout on his face, "I wasn't using you that day, but the other way around. I merely holding your Scythe form, but you were the one that moved my body and fought the Demon King. So it was you who killed him, not me".

"Alright, I admit it, I killed him through you." Yami said with a smile on his face, while his hands moved to caress Yugi's hand out of habit. "Back to the story." He continued as he returned his attention to the group of friends, "After we killed him, we continued with our journey to Master's house. After we arrived, he invited me to live with him once he found out that I have nowhere to go".

" _Are you sure I can live with you, Yugi?" Kkwy asked as he followed Yugi into the house._

" _I'm sure, Kkwy." Yugi reassured him with a smile, "I live alone here, so you can use the guest room. Besides, I'm rather lonely and tired living alone, so I want you to live here with me"._

" _Alright then, if you insist." Kkwy finally agreed, since if he was to be honest with himself, he had grown rather fond of the boy throughout their journey – especially after they fought together earlier. He then looked around his new home curiously, before noticing that it was connected to the blacksmith shop next door. "You're a Blacksmith?" He asked in surprise._

" _Yup." Yugi answered proudly, "My body might be a bit on the weak side, but that doesn't mean that I'm not strong enough to do a heavy duty job like being a Blacksmith"._

" _Are you good?" Kkwy asked curiously as he looked at the boy over once again, and this time noticing the slight muscle on the boy's arms that he had overlooked before._

 _Yugi's proud grin widened, "The best in this Kingdom, I dare say." He stated confidently._

" _Can I ask you a favor then?" Kkwy asked calmly, although it was clear that he was serious as well._

" _What is it, Kkwy?" Yugi asked with a tilt of his head._

" _I need you to do a check up on my body, in Scythe form, I mean." Kkwy explained with a light blush, "I don't really know how long I was asleep, and I knew that I'm in a bad condition since I was having a hard time killing that spoiled Demon King, but the question is how bad I am exactly. So, do you mind checking me over?"._

 _No, I don't mind." Yugi answered right away, "I'm happy to be able to help you, since you have done so much for me already"._

" _It was nothing, Yugi." Kkwy said with a chuckle, "Thank you for this though. Just call me when you're done, so I can change back." Right after he said that, he changed into his Scythe form._

 _If Kkwy could, he knew that he would melt right then and there under Yugi's gentle care. He might lost all of his touch sense while he was in Scythe form, but Yugi's soft touch somehow managed to reach him all the way to his core. No wonder that Yugi was the best Blacksmith in the Kingdom._

" _Kkwy?" Yugi's voice managed to penetrate the fog that had begun to fill his mind, just in time to pull him back before his mind was melt completely. "I'm done"._

 _Kkwy changed his form back into his more human looking one, and then turned his attention to Yugi, waiting patiently for the verdict._

" _Kkwy ..." Yugi began hesitantly, a sure sign that he was in a worse shape than he thought, "What would happen to you if your Scythe form is destroyed?"._

 _Kkwy inhaled sharply, for he could guess his condition already, he was on the verge of breaking apart. He sighed and closed his eyes, "I will die." He finally told Yugi with resigned tone, "If my Scythe form is destroyed, then I will die – in a sense. I will lose my life, and would merely exist as a normal broken Scythe"._

" _Is there anything that I could do to help, Kkwy?" Yugi asked in concern._

" _Don't worry, Yugi." Kkwy tried to reassure Yugi, but even he himself was worried over his condition, "I just need to drink blood, then I will be as good as new"._

" _Just take my blood then." Yugi offered immediately, but he was serious._

"Wait! Wait! Let me guess!" Anzu cut in with a big grin on her face, "Because Yugi offered his blood, you were saved, and you decided to serve Yugi out of gratitude. After that, you traveled around the world together as Partners and live happily ever after." She suggested happily before she swoon, "Oh, it was like in a romance fairy tale".

Yugi sweat dropped, while Atem grew jealous hearing that – not at Yami though, but at the fact that Yami knew Yugi first and were close to him, long before Atem entered the picture. He was jealous that Yami had spent much longer time alone with Yugi than he did, but not at the fact that they were that close in the first place (He was a Pharaoh, after all, and Pharaohs normally had many lovers. He would never be upset if Yugi love another while still together with him, he would just have to learn to love that other person as well, so he could make their relationship worked). The rest of the group – except for Yami – chuckled at Anzu's suggestion, knowing that it wouldn't be that simple. Since it was Yugi that they were talking about and things almost always never went that smoothly for Yugi.

"Wrong." Yami deadpanned the brunette girl, causing her to snap out of her daze to look at him in surprise, "I couldn't accept Yugi's offer that time".

 _Kkwy shook his head, "I can't, Yugi." He told the boy firmly, "With how badly in shape I am, I'm afraid that I won't be able to stop myself from drinking too much once I start. The risk of you dying is too big, I can't take it"._

" _But ..." Yugi tried to argue, but Kkwy shook his head again._

" _I will be alright." He promised to the boy, "It will take a really heavy force to break my Scythe form apart, so don't worry"._

" _But, Kkwy!" Yugi protested immediately, "What if something happened, and your Scythe form broke? You could die!"._

 _Kkwy and Yugi were having a staring contest now, before Kkwy sighed tiredly. "How about this .." He began as he took Yugi's hand in his, "If worse come to worst and my Scythe form is broken, you will rebuild me." He suggested with a smile, "I doubt that it will come to that, but I will still tell you how if it will calm you down. You're a skilled Blacksmith, so I'm sure you can rebuild me into a stronger Scythe than my current self"._

" _Is there a consequence if I do that?" Yugi asked in worry._

" _Well, the most would be I would look slightly different and act slightly differently as well." Kkwy explained thoughtfully, "You know, just like a Phoenix that rise from its ash. The Phoenix has the same soul, but with a slightly different look and personality"._

" _So, you will still be you, but will look and act a bit different than before?" Yugi asked just to be sure._

" _Yes." Kkwy answered with a nod of his head._

" _Oh, good." Yugi breathed out in relief, "Then if the worst happened, I could help you. I promise that I will help you"._

 _Kkwy smiled at that. "Thank you." He replied sincerely._

"Did it ever happen?" Atem asked Yami curiously.

"Did what happen?" Yami asked him back in confusion.

"Did you ever die and then resurrected by Yugi?" Atem clarified for him.

Yami looked thoughtful as he tried to remember if it ever happened before, but it was Yugi who answered for him. "No, it never happened before, thankfully." He answered with a smile, "I found out that, as long as it's only a small crack or dent that was on the Scythe, I can fix him up with just a little bit of my blood. So, after I had my Contract with Yami, I made sure to 'feed' his Scythe form a few drops of my blood once a month".

"Did it hurt?" Akefia asked him with a raised eyebrow, "Ryou wanted me to ask you that".

"Not at all." Yugi shook his head, "I happen to have a high pain tolerance, so it didn't hurt me one bit".

"But you sure are happy that such little cuts would never leave a scar on your body." Yami commented with a chuckle.

"Of course I'm happy about it." Yugi responded with a cute pout, "After all, I don't need the people thinks that I'm a cutter".

"So, what happened after that?" Mokuba asked them curiously, "Yami was in a bad shape, right? So how did you and Yami have the Contract?".

"Well, let's see …" Yugi mused as he tried to remember what happened after that, at least, what happened that needed to be told to the others.

"It was a month after that." Yami began to say, making everyone to look at him again, "After a month of living together, I have grown very fond of Master, and he of me. We spent the time getting to know more of each other, and I also taught him how to fight using both a sword and myself as his weapon, so he could protect himself even if I'm not there to help him. Unfortunately, a group of Demons came into Yugi's house that day. Yugi was out delivering some stuff to the people when the Demons came, and so I was alone at the house." Yami made a face there, remembering how uneasy he felt when he was left alone that day, especially after he had been feeling dreadful since morning. "The Demons asked me to be their King, since I had killed their previous King and thus prove that I'm stronger than their old King. I refused though, since I have to intention to ever returning to the Demon Realm. My excuse that time was that I was on the verge of breaking apart, so I told them to hold a tournament or something to choose their new King, and they backed off after that".

"They didn't give up though." Yugi continued for Yami, since he knew that Yami was still blaming himself for what almost happened that day, "They knew that I'm close with Yami, so they thought that I was the real reason why Yami refused to be their King".

"What did they do?" Atem asked in worry, "They didn't hurt you, right? If they did, I'm going to hunt them down and kill them all." He growled at that last part.

"The only one that you need to hunt down is Alice." Yami told him with a smirk on his face, "I and my Master had killed the rest of them, but Alice fled before we could kill her too".

"Yugi had killed before?" Seto asked in surprise, "And here I thought he was too kind of his own good".

"He still is." Yami replied dryly, "It was 1.000 years ago and in a kill or be killed situation, so Yugi was forced to kill them, or they would be the one who kill him".

"Oh, I see." Seto nodded in understanding.

"So, what did they do?" Jou repeated Atem's first question, since he was also curious about what had happened.

"Well …" Yugi began as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "They tried to kill me, thinking that if I was dead, then Yami would agree to return with them".

 _Yugi was looking at the vegetable in one of the stand in the market – since his food stock at his home was nearly empty, when he heard it, the sound of a sword being swung. He turned around while pulling a dagger that he had kept in his belt – a new habit that he had developed after a month of living with Kkwy – and blocked the upcoming sword before it could even get close to his body._

" _Who are you?" Yugi demanded to the person who tried to kill him, but couldn't see his – he thought the person was a man from his figure anyway – face due to the hood of his cloak._

" _Your worst nightmare." The man sneered at Yugi, before pulling back to attack again, but Yugi was already running away to a more open place where he could fight back. "Get back here, you brat!" The man yelled as he ran after Yugi._

" _As if." Yugi muttered to himself, "Who would stop and listen to someone who tries to kill him anyway? What an idiot"._

 _What Yugi didn't count though, was the fact that his opponent wasn't alone in his attempt to kill Yugi, so he was quite surprised when his way was blocked by a group of people wearing hooded cloaks. Although his situation was bad, Yugi couldn't help but wondered, why did they have to be the typical villains who went anywhere wearing black hooded cloaks?_

 _His mind quickly returned to the problem at hand when one of the cloaked figures – the smallest among them – called out something, right before a strange big bird that looked like it was made from leaves and fire appeared. The small girl – she sounded like a girl anyway – pointed at him and cried out something again, and the strange bird immediately rushed towards him. Though he didn't understand the language, he knew the gesture – the girl had ordered the bird to attack him._

"How come you didn't understand the language?" Honda asked in confusion, "Didn't she speak Japanese when she attacked us earlier?".

"I didn't speak Japanese then." Yugi responded, "I'm of Japanese descent, but it was my Grandfather who was true Japanese and spoke the language. I'm actually half Egyptian, since my Mother was Egyptian before our whole family moved to Nubia for business purpose. That was why I was sent to Egypt when the plague hit, since my Mother's old friend was there and she agreed to take care of me for awhile".

"Wow." Honda could only say that.

"It seems that you were chosen as the Pharaoh's vessel wasn't only because of you're the other half of his soul, but also because you have Egyptian blood in you." Malik commented in awe.

"You could say that." Yugi smiled as he nodded to show his agreement, "Anyway, before the strange bird could reach me, Yami got to me first and killed the bird".

"I knew right away that the people who attacked Yugi, so I was furious with them." Yami continued for Yugi.

" _What the hell do you think you're doing?" Kkwy demanded at them furiously._

" _That boy is what really holding you back, isn't he?" One of them retaliated, "We will just kill him, so you won't have a reason to stay here anymore and will return with us"._

" _I told you, I can't be your King because I'm on the verge of breaking apart, or are you that stupid?" Kkwy growled at them, "Besides, I have no desire to be the King, so you can just find someone else"._

" _I'm sorry, Kkwy, but we can't do that." The small girl from before said as she pulled back her hood – and Kkwy immediately recognized her as Alice, one of the Beast Tamer that he knew of in the past – but she didn't sound sorry at all. "You see, we need you to go back with us, no matter what." She explained with a cruel smirk, "If your problem is as simple as just about to break apart, you can just drink that boy's blood and get yourself as good as new"._

" _Ah! Kkwy!" Yugi's voice made Kkwy looked back, and he was shocked to find that someone else had sneaked at them and managed to capture Yugi._

" _We will only give you two choices, Kkwy." Another cloaked figure spoke – an older woman from the sounded of her voice, "You can either take that boy's blood and became our King, or we will just kill you both"._

 _Kkwy narrowed his eyes, it was a lost and lost situation, since Yugi would be endangered and could die either way. "Look, how about a bargain?" He tried to reason with them, "You can just kill me now, but please leave Yugi out of this"._

 _Whatever they thought his reaction would be, it seemed that none of them was that, since they looked shocked at his response._

" _We refuse." Alice snapped at him, "What's so hard about taking the boy's blood and come with us anyway?"._

" _It's hard because I don't want to kill him, nor do I have the desire to come back with you." Kkwy snapped back at her, becoming more agitated as the second passed by with Yugi still being in their clutch._

"How did you get out of that situation?" Anzu asked worriedly.

"Remember I said that I had an older Cousin?" Yugi reminded her, "His name was Hoshikage Rei, and he happened to be the General in the Kingdom. He saved me and told me to run, while he and his army held the Demons back".

" _Run, Yugi!" Hoshikage Rei – who was a man with short wavy black hair that turned reddish at the tips and a pair of amethyst eyes – told Yugi as he swung his sword at one of the beast creatures, the rest of his army followed suit, "We will hold them back!"._

 _Kkwy knew that the General and the army were skilled enough to hold their ground against the Demons, so he immediately grab Yugi's hand and took off running. He went into an empty alley somewhere and used his Magic to open a portal to somewhere else, which happened to be an oasis in Egypt that he often visited long ago._

" _We're safe here, at least for now." Kkwy said as he looked around, to see if there was anyone in the oasis or not, and relaxed once he found that they were alone._

" _Where are we?" Yugi asked in confusion, wondering how they got from an alleyway into a garden–like place in an instant._

" _We're at an oasis in Egypt." Kkwy answered him with a smile, "Did I surprise you?"._

" _Not as much surprised as I'm confused." Yugi explained to him with a confused smile, "How come we go from Nubia to Egypt in less than a second anyway?"._

" _I used my Magic to open a portal from there to here, with the shadows being the medium for the portal." Kkwy explained as he leaned on one of the trees in there, crossing his arms in thought, "Now, how do we get out of this situation we have with the Demons?"._

"Wait a minute, did you say you used the shadows as the medium?" Akefia asked him in surprise, "You can use Shadow Magic?".

"Yes, a bit." Yami confirmed calmly, "My Demon Magic is very similar to that of Shadow Magic, but without the ability to summon Duel Monsters. With a bit of learning from my part, I can use Shadow Magic now, but I have to gain the trust of the Monsters first before I can summon them, and only if I really need their help".

"Wow, it makes you like – what is it – the strongest Demon there is in the world?" Jou asked in awe.

"You could say that." Yami said casually with a shrug, "I'm not the strongest being out there though, I think Master Yugi is the strongest person in this world – along with the Pharaoh, from what I have felt".

"Us?" Yugi and Atem asked at the same time, surprise written on their faces.

"Yes, the two of you." Yami confirmed with a confident smirk, "You are two halves of the same soul, and I can feel that when you two are a whole soul, you are the strongest being that is exists in this world".

"Why are you so surprised, Pharaoh?" Akefia asked him curiously, "Lord Ra had said so himself, hadn't he? He said that you're his Favorite as well as his Strongest Son, and he said it to you alone. If you merged with Yugi, who is as strong as you, then you two would be unbeatable".

"I … guess so." Atem responded quietly. He was actually more surprised to hear that he was as strong as Yugi, since he all this time felt like Yugi was the stronger one between them – unknown to him, Yugi felt exactly the same way as him as the boy thought that Atem was the stronger one.

"Okay, that was out of the way." Mokuba grumbled at them, "Why are you people always interrupted them when they are telling the best part of the story?".

"Sorry, I guess." Akefia muttered unhappily, and he looked uncomfortable saying his apology, guessed he still wasn't used to apologize to people.

"Yami, please continue the story." Mokuba told Yami with an eager look on his face.

"Okay …" Yami drawled before tilting his head to the side, "As soon as I asked how we could get out of that situation, I knew the answer right away – well, almost".

" _Well, what do you think we should do?" Yugi asked him back as he leaned on the tree, right beside Kkwy, "You're the Demon here, so you know what we should do best in this situation more than I do"._

 _Kkwy blinked hearing that, before he looked aside to lock eyes with the boy, and the answer came to his mind immediately. "We have three options." He told the boy, "The first choice being, I told them that I had killed you and go with them. That way, you will be safe"._

" _Rejected!" Yugi objected immediately with a glare, "You don't want to be their King, so don't you dare to go with them just to keep me safe"._

 _Kkwy nodded in agreement. "The second choice is we kill them all." He stated bluntly right to the point._

 _Yugi stared at Kkwy for a long time. "Normally I would reject it right away, but since this is Demons who want me dead and you as their toll that we're dealing with, I say we used it as our last resort." He decided finally._

" _Alright then." Kkwy shrugged nonchalantly, since he didn't really care if he could kill them all or not, "The third and last option is, we formed a Contract and I submit myself to you." He explained slowly, so Yugi would really understand what he was talking about, "If we formed a Contract, then I'm tied to you, so they have to back off since there's nothing they could do anymore"._

" _They can still try to kill me to break this Contract that you're talking about." Yugi pointed out immediately, his mind was filled with all possibilities of what could happen if he formed the Contract with Kkwy._

" _They could try." Kkwy smirked coldly, "Once we're bound in a Contract, you will be an Immortal like me, so they would have one hell of a hard time trying to kill you, since I will kill them first before they could even touch the tip of your hair"._

" _Cold, aren't you." Yugi commented with a sweat drop._

" _What can I say? No matter how human I looks, I'm still a Demon." Kkwy answered simply with a shrug._

" _So, what should we do to form this Contract?" Yugi asked him curiously with a tilt of his head, making him looked like a cute curious baby panda._

" _Actually, there are two type of Contract, so the one that we will be forming is the Mutual Contract. This Contract is started when you let me drink your blood willingly, and then I will chant the Incantation for the binding. Normally, the Contractor is the one who chanted the Incantation, but since you didn't know what to say, I will do it instead." Kkwy explained to him sheepishly while scratching his cheek with a finger, "After that, you give me my identification"._

" _Identification?" Yugi asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"._

" _You know, like when you're writing identification for the items that you made?" Kkwy explained more to him, "Since we're going to form a Contract, you can give me a new identity, such as what's my name is; who my Owner and Master or Contractor is – namely you; and what purpose you have in mind that you contracted me for. Don't worry too much about it, you will know how to do it when the time comes"._

" _But Kkwy, you already have a name of your own." Yugi said perplexedly, wondering what Kkwy meant by that._

" _I mean, you can change my name if you want, so this name that you give me will be my new name." Kkwy elaborated further for him, "It's your decision if you want to give me a new name or not, but you need to think what do you want me to do, what you contracted me for"._

" _I don't know." Yugi said honestly, still confused about giving this identification thing, "The reason why we're going to form this Contract is to make those Demons back off, right?"._

" _Hence why you need to think of another thing for me to do." Kkwy told him right away, "Our reason to form the Contract is to protect each other and ourselves. So, can you think of anything else that you might need and I can give it to you? My other reason to accept this Contract is for your guidance, actually. I need someone that can guide me through my life, so I won't be lost to my dark desire, and I have decided that you're the perfect person to do it"._

 _Yugi thought about it for a while, before nodding to himself. "I need someone to be my sword and shield, I guess." He decided finally._

" _So, you contracted me to be your weapon to attack your enemies, and to be your defender from any attack that may come to your way?" Kkwy asked for clarification, so Yugi nodded his head in answer, "That can do. Let's do it then"._

" _When should I give this identification that you're talking about again?" Yugi asked curiously._

" _Right after I'm tied down, I guess." Kkwy said with a blink of his eyes, since he was also unsure of the process, considering some of his memories was still rather foggy after sleeping for so long._

" _Tied down?!" Yugi gasped out in shock._

"Tied down?!" The whole group at the current time – except for Yugi – also gasped out in shock.

"Yes, tied down." Yami confirmed matter–of–factly.

"But, why would you need to be tied down?" Anzu asked with a worried frown.

"As I have explained to Yugi that day …" Yami began with a huff, "The act of contracting a Demon is actually used to subdue a Demon and force them to slavery – for lack of a better word, so I need to be tied down to make sure I couldn't run away. Not many Demons enters a Contract willingly, since a Contract is something that binds, and thus we have to follow its laws. The Contractor of a Demon will become their Master, and the Demon will become the Master's Servant – or slave, or possession, or something like that." He explained to them as he snapped his finger, and then a collar seemed to appear from thin air. The bronze collar was wound around Yami's neck, and it has a chain connected to it that ran from the collar to a golden bracelet, which was adorning Yugi's right wrist. The chain itself had two colors, it was bronze from one end – the one that connected to Yugi's bracelet – before gradually turning gold towards the other end – which was connected to Yami's collar.

"What are those collar and chain … and the bracelet too?" Atem asked as he reached out to touch the chain, lightly holding it in his hands. "Huh?" He blinked in surprise, "They don't weight at all." While Atem was inspecting the chain, both Yami and Yugi froze up, looking at Atem as if he had grown another head. Then, after a few seconds, Atem finally noticed the look they had on their faces. "What?" He asked in confusion, "Have I done something that I shouldn't do?".

Yugi shook his head, but it was Yami who answered vocally. "No, more like shouldn't be able to do".

Atem blinked again, "You mean, I shouldn't be able to touch this chain?" He asked as he stared at the chain in his hands.

"Yes." Yami confirmed with a nod of his head, but his eyes were also staring at the chain now. "This chain is the visualization of our Contract." He explained as he looked back up to Atem, "What I had just done was merely letting the people in here to see it, but I didn't allow anyone to touch it. Only the people who have permission from either the Demon or the human who formed the Contract can touch it, so you shouldn't be able to touch it, at all".

"Well, when you put it that way …" Atem trailed off, since he didn't even know what to think about it.

LINE~LINE~LINE

To be continued . . .

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Froim : Review Please ^ ^


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Gi Oh!**

 _Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

' _Telepathy'_

 _/Broadcast Telepathy/_

"Dialogue"

" _Speaking in Spirit form"_

Letter

 **Emphasis**

 _ **Dangerous Tone / Spell**_

"Could it be because the Pharaoh is the other half of Yugi's soul?" Mokuba suggested while tilting his head, "I mean, since the Pharaoh is Yugi's other half, so maybe the Contract recognize Atem as a part of Yugi, which enabled him to touch the chain".

"… Could be." Yami finally said after a moment of silence, before shaking his head – trying to get rid of a headache that started to pound his head. He felt like his mind was trying to remember something again, but he ignored it for now, instead deciding to just continue with the story. "Anyway, after I explained about why I would be tied down to Yugi …".

" _Okay, so … what would happen after I give you the identification?" Yugi asked after he calmed down._

" _An immaterial chain will be formed between us, as a visualization of our Contract." Kkwy explained slowly, for he didn't want to make Yugi shocked again, "Only the two of us – and those who have our permission – can touch it, and we can make the chain invisible if we want. After that, the Contract is done, and we will be bound by it"._

" _Okay, got it." Yugi nodded his head to show that he understood, "Let's do it, shall we?" He suggested with a smile._

 _Kkwy smiled back, "Okay." He agreed while nodding back to Yugi. "I will try not to hurt you too much, Yugi." He said as he moved so his mouth was closer to the boy's neck, "If you think I have taken too much, push me away as hard as you can"._

" _Why?" Yugi asked in confusion as he bare his neck to make it easier for Kkwy._

" _I told you, didn't I? In such a bad shape that I'm in, I don't know whether I can stop myself once I start or not." Kkwy reminded him gently, "So if you think that I have taken too much, push me away to stop me. I would never forgive myself if I killed you, Yugi"._

" _Alright, I understand." Yugi said before closing his eyes, preparing himself for what was about to happen._

 _Without another blood, Kkwy bit down on Yugi's neck – causing the boy to tense for a bit – before drinking the blood that flowed into his mouth. As soon as the blood entered his system, Kkwy could feel his strength returned to him, and he felt as if he was born anew. Thankfully, he could think clearly enough to know that he had taken more than he needed, so he pulled back from Yugi._

" _I hope I didn't hurt you too much, Yugi." Kkwy said as he locked eyes with Yugi._

" _Don't worry, the pain didn't last long." Yugi reassured him with a smile as he moved his hand to his neck, and hissed when his hand touched his open wound._

 _Kkwy pulled Yugi's hand away. "Don't touch it." He scolded the boy, "It will close up on its own after our Contract is formed"._

" _Sorry, bad habit." Yugi said with a sheepish grin._

 _Kkwy shook his head in amusement, before turning serious as he stood face to face with Yugi. He closed his eyes and began to chant the Incantation to bind them together in a Contract, and then – as soon as he finished the chanting – Magic circle appeared beneath them with him being the center. From inside the circle, chains shot up to the air before they wrapped themselves around his body, and he gasped as he was forced into kneeling position. He had expected the chain, but he didn't expect it to force him to his knees, so he was surprised._

" _Kkwy!" Yugi gasped in shock._

" _Don't worry about me, Yugi." Kkwy reassured him with a smile, "They don't hurt me … not too much, anyway." He whispered the last part to himself, all the while trying his best not to show any pain that he felt to Yugi._

 _Yugi exhaled shakily before nodding his head. He inhaled deeply to calm himself – again – before placing his right palm on top of Kkwy's head, following his instinct. Kkwy smiled encouragingly at Yugi before closing his eyes again, then bowing his head in a submission._

" **From today onwards, your name is Yami.** _" Yugi began to say, the words flowing smoothly as if he had known what to say from the start, "_ **I – Hoshikage Yugi – am your Master, and with this Contract I bind you to myself to be my Sword and Shield, Demon Scythe Yami** _"._

 _The Magic circle's glow brightened, along with the chains that were around Kkwy – now Yami's body._

" **Hoshikage Yugi.** _" Yami began to say as he opened his eyes slowly, but didn't look up at Yugi as he kept his gaze to the ground in front of him, "_ **I – Demon Scythe Yami – am your Servant, and I accept this Contract to bind myself to you in exchange for your Guidance, My Master** _"._

 _As soon as those words were uttered by Yami, the Magic circle and the chains glowed almost blindingly, before breaking apart into countless light shards – only for them to reform themselves into a chain that connected Yami to Yugi._

 _Yami let out a relieved breath before standing up, his hand reached up onto his neck to finger his new collar. A satisfied smile grew on his face, and a feeling of contentment washed over him. It was as if he had regained something that he had lost in the past, which was strange considering he had never wore a collar or had a Master before – as far as he remembered, anyway. "It's done now … Master." He said as he looked aside, and his smile softened when he saw the awestruck on Yugi's face as the boy looked at the new bracelet on his right wrist._

 _Yugi looked up at Yami to say something, only to widen his eyes. "Kkwy– I mean, Yami!" He gasped as he reached out to touch Yami's collar, "What is this? Why are you wearing a collar?" He asked in concern._

" _This is our Contract Chain – or Binding Chain – that I told you about." Yami explained as he moved his head a bit so Yugi could see his collar clearly, "I'm wearing a collar because I'm your Servant now, or your Slave, or anything that you want to call me. I'm in your possession now, so this collar acts as a proof of your ownership over me. If you looks closely, I'm sure you can see your name written on it in ancient writings – maybe in Hieroglyphs, since you're half Egyptian"._

 _After a moment of silence as Yugi observed the collar, the boy gasped again. "It's true." He said in awe. Then – as if he had just thought about it – he checked his new bracelet, only to frown a second later. "Yami, why is your name isn't written on my bracelet?" He asked Yami in confusion._

" _Because you're the Master, Sire." Yami explained quietly, "A Servant can only have one Master, thus your name is written on my collar, for it is with your right to claim me as yours and yours alone. The Master – on the other hand – can have as many Servants as he wishes, thus there is no name on your bracelet, for I have no right to claim you as mine and mine alone"._

" _I give you permission to claim me as only yours then." Yugi told him decisively, "I have no intention to have another Servant aside from you, after all"._

" _Are you sure, my Master?" Yami asked seriously, to let Yugi know that he shouldn't take this matter lightly._

" _Yes, Yami." Yugi told him firmly, but with a smile on his face, "By the way, you can just call me Yugi"._

 _Yami smiled back and nodded his head. "Thank you, Master. You don't know how much this means for me." He said softly – his voice filled with gratefulness, before he bowed and pulled Yugi's hand up to his lips, gently kissing the bracelet._

 _Yami pulled back in time to see the bracelet glowed for a bit, and then – once the light died down, Yami's name was now written on the bracelet in the language of Demons. Looking up, Yami locked eyes with Yugi, and they smiled at each other happily._

"Aww, so sweet." Anzu swooned again with dreamy look on her face, "Oh, if only you kissed Yugi on the lips instead of on his bracelet".

"Anzu." Yugi called out dryly, "How can you say that in front of my Boyfriend?".

"Your Boyfriend was a Pharaoh." Anzu reminded him, before looking at Atem, "I'm sure you don't mind if Yugi have another Lover as long as he's still in love with you as well, right?".

Atem's eyes widened as a blush painted his cheeks lightly, he looked down to hide his blush and nodded silently – after all, he had thought so to himself earlier. "As long as Yugi's other Lover doesn't try to monopolize him, and doesn't antagonize me, then it should be alright." He murmured in embarrassment as the image of Yugi and Yami kissing filled his mind, which – strangely enough – was a turn on for him. "Besides, Yugi and Yami knew each other long before I know him, so I don't think I have a right to be angry if they love each other – considering how long they have spent together".

"Our relationship at the moment is only a Servant and his Master." Yami explained to Anzu, "I have no right to initiate a kiss if it's on his lips, I only have the right to answer if my Master is the one who initiate the kiss, since I'm in his possession. It doesn't matter though, he doesn't love me that way – as far as I know".

"You don't know that." Anzu countered immediately. Her secretly Yaoi-fan-girl-self really wished that they would be together, especially since both Yugi and Yami were good looking. "At least, not without asking Yugi personally".

Yami didn't give a response as he locked eyes with Yugi, who smiled in understanding and patted him on the head.

"Where were we?" Yugi asked to change the subject, "Oh, right. So, after we formed our Contract, we returned to the Kingdom and Yami told the Demons that he's under Contract now, so they should leave and find another King. As you can guess, they didn't listen to him and tried to kill me instead, to break the Contract. So, with Yami in Scythe form in my hand, and with Rei and his army backing me up, we killed almost all of the Demons. With Alice as the exception, since she fled when she saw that the Demons had been overpowered".

"After the fight, Master's Cousin asked if he wanted to join the army since he's a good fighter now, but he refused because he loved his job as a Blacksmith." Yami continued for Yugi.

"Although, I promised to help them out if needed." Yugi added cheerfully, "Then, since I was considered Part Timer Army, I was given a code name that they would call me with on the field".

"What is it?" Mokuba asked curiously, "Your code name, I mean".

"The Shinigami." Yugi answered right away, "Since I fight using a big Scythe like how the Shinigami is portrayed all this time".

"And that is the end of our story." Yami closed the story telling session with it, "If you have any question, feel free to ask".

"I do." Jou said right away, making them all looked at the blonde, "I want to know how your surname changed from Hoshikage to Mutou, and why did you call Grandpa 'Sugoroku-chan'".

"It's simple." Yugi said with a smirk, "I never had an interest in romance before, so I don't have a child yet – even now. My Cousin – on the other hand – found a woman he fancied and got married, then had children together. These children grew up, got married, and had their own children. The cycle kept repeating like that, and some time along the way, one of the Hoshikage became a Mutou. Mutou Sugoroku is a descendant of my Nephew, thus making him my great-too-many-times Nephew, so I called him Sugoroku-chan when he was young – and when I'm in the mood in teasing him." He explained lightly, but was still shocking them nonetheless, "My own name changed from Hoshikage to Mutou because I want to have a normal life – or as normal as I could get anyway – since I was tired of having to live in the middle of a forest somewhere with just Yami and I.

"I went to Sugoroku since I helped raising him up when he was still a child – so he knew about me, and when I asked if I can live with him, he agreed. He had just lost his own Son and Daughter-in-law, so he was lonely, I guess. Yami used his Demon Magic to revert my body back into a little kid, and then Sugoroku raised me up like his own Grandson. Sometimes along the way, I began calling him Jii-chan – and I still call him that even now, unless I feel like teasing him".

"I have a question." Malik raised his hand next, "If you're half Egyptian and lived in Nubia at the time, why did your parents named you Yugi? Instead of naming you in Egyptian".

"Since my skin is pale." Yugi answered him with a smile, "My skin is pale, unlike the rest of the Egyptian or Nubian, so they decided to give me Japanese name since it suited me more than Egyptian name".

"Anyone else?" Yami asked in bored manner.

"I do." Anzu waved her hand lightly, "It's for you, Yami." She explained with a concerned smile, "Are you really alright with being Yugi's Servant? I mean, you were forced to form the Contract because of those Demons, right?".

Yami smiled as he fingered his collar again. "I'm alright with it." He answered calmly, "My options that time were either I went with them, or I killed them all, or I entered a Contract with Yugi. I know that I can just kill them all, but even then, I already valued Yugi's opinion highly. Yugi didn't want to kill them, so decided to kill them as the last resort only. If I went with the Demons, they would only force me to be their King, and force me to be something that isn't me".

"Meaning?" Honda asked him curiously.

"Demons are creatures that easily fall to their dark desires, and most of the time, this desire is to hurt people and hear their agonized scream." Yami told him matter-of-factly, "Even I sometimes feel this desire, so if I went with them, I wouldn't be able to fight my dark desires anymore and became a Lost Demon as well. After all, only Demons who have lost to their darkness that lives in the Demon Realm, those who can still fight their dark desires all live in the human Realm".

"Why?" Mokuba asked him in confusion, "Many humans have corrupted heart, so isn't it even easier for the Demons to lose to the temptation of their dark desire?".

It really was sad that such harsh – yet truthful – words came from a young boy like Mokuba.

Yami smiled at the boy. "Because we can feel it, the purity of a human's soul." He explained softly, "This ability let us find humans with pure heart, and we will stay with them. Their pure heart will help us fight our dark desire, and if they are strong enough, they can purify us enough that we can get rid of our dark desire completely." He then turned to smile at Yugi, before looking at Anzu. "Yugi is one of the purest Souls that I have ever met, and I really am lucky to have met him." He told the girl firmly – yet earnestly, "So, I'm alright with being Yugi's Servant. In fact, I know that even if those Demons didn't come and I wasn't forced to form the Contract, I would still ask Yugi to be my Contractor anyway. I wouldn't want to lose Yugi to death – I need him, so I would gladly offer myself to him and serve him for all eternity, just so I can stay by his side and help him in any way I could".

"Oh, Yami." Yugi sighed as a blush appeared on his cheeks, "You flatter me too much".

"I'm not." Yami denied it happily, "In the millennia that we spent watching this world together, I have never met another Soul that come even close to your pureness. Honest".

Yugi blushed even more and looked away. "I'm sure there are some out there, we just haven't met them yet." He tried to deny it, but Yami just chuckled and shook his head in answer.

"I'm sorry to break this light hearted atmosphere, but there's something that I'm still confused about." Seto told them seriously – causing them all to look at him questioningly, but his focus was on Yugi and Yami. "How did Yami end up getting himself stabbed inside that cave, and why – even though you told him to just call you by name – that he insists in calling you his Master, Yugi?".

"That is quite strange indeed." Atem commented as he looked at Yugi and Yami as well, "Throughout the story, I got the feeling you two are close, really close. So, if you're really that close, why would Yami not call you by your name, Yugi?".

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Yami grumbled in annoyance, since the two of them spoke as if he wasn't there. Although, his annoyance flew away as soon as Yugi placed his hand on Yami's head and began running his hand through Yami's hair.

"Actually, I have been wondering about it myself for awhile now." Yugi admitted to them all, making Yami looked up at him in attention, "You know, Yami … All this time, when I asked you to call me by name, you always told me to give you an order if I really want you to do it. I always back off all this time, and I have waited to see if you will tell me the reason yourself. It has been 1.000 years though, Yami, and I think it's about time you tell me – and the rest of us – why you refuse to call me by name anymore".

Yami stared at Yugi's eyes for a long time – completely ignoring all the others in the room, before he sighed and stood up from his seat, then walked over to the window nearby so he could looked at the outside. "Master." He began without looking at Yugi – or anyone for that matter – as his eyes were locked at the clear sky outside, "Do you remember when you first asked me to call you by your name?".

"Yes." Yugi answered calmly, patiently waiting for Yami to gather his mind, "It was about two weeks after our Contract is formed. I noticed that you never call me by name anymore, and even if you did, you added the title Master before my name. That was when I decided to confront you about it".

Yami sighed again as he turned around, finally let his eyes locked to Yugi's as he leaned on the window frame. "Before that day, I didn't even know why I insists in calling you my Master. But after you confronted me about it, I remembered one of my forgotten memories." He admitted sadly, "I … I remember that, long ago, I have another Master. Although, I don't remember who he was or how he looked anymore – not yet. I remember this though, we were close, so much that we sometimes acted like we were Lovers instead of a Servant and his Master. He too asked me to call him by his name, and for the longest of time, I did as he ask of me".

"What … happened?" Yugi asked hesitantly, feeling how pained Yami felt through their Link.

"One day, an Assassin came after me." Yami told him softly, his voice sounded so heartbroken that it squeezed the heart of the people who heard him – though some of them would refuse to admit it if they were asked. "That Assassin told me that the one who sent him was my own Master, the one that I thought of as my friend".

Yugi gasped in shock, "But … why?" He asked in disbelief.

"My previous Master … it turned out that he was scared of me all those time ago, he was afraid that I would kill him." Yami answered him tonelessly as he lowered his gaze to the floor in front of him, feeling numb on the inside again, "He wanted to feel safe again, so he sent the Assassin to kill me, since he didn't dare to do it himself. I … I guess, I wanted to die after I heard it, so I didn't even move as the Assassin stabbed me with the dagger. I only stood there, waiting for death that would never come to me, but could only fall asleep for a long time".

Everyone was silent as they took it all in, sympathizing with how hurt Yami must be that day. "So …" Yugi finally broke the silent as he stood up, before slowly approaching Yami, "So … you refuses to call me by my name, because you think I would betray your trust as well in the end?".

Yami gasped as his eyes flew up from the floor to meet with Yugi's eyes. "No, Master! I would never-!" He tried to deny it, but he stopped himself as his throat locked up, and his eyes filled with tears as fear began to fill his whole being. He couldn't deny it, not completely.

Meanwhile, Atem saw how close Yami was to breaking down, so he silently motioned the others to leave the room, in order to give Yami and Yugi privacy to talk about it alone. The others complied and left the room silently, and Atem himself soon followed suit after giving one last glance at Yami and Yugi.

As this was happening though, neither Yugi or Yami was aware of it, for they were lost in their own world.

"I-" He tried to speak again after awhile, gulping down to try and calm himself down enough to speak. "I trusts you, Master." He began again after he had calmed down enough, "I know that your love towards me is genuine, I can feel it, and I relish in it every day".

"But …?" Yugi prompted him softly.

Yami closed his eyes to try and keep himself together. "But … there will always this fear deep inside me, that I can't get rid no matter what." He continued sadly, "I fear that, if I agree to call you by your name, that one day – somehow – you will grow to fear me as he had feared me. I fear that if I call your name, you will grow to hate me, and don't want me around you anymore".

"Oh, Yami …" Yugi breathed sadly as he pulled Yami into a tight hug, "I would never fear you, and I would never hate you. You know that, right?".

"I know." Yami whispered in answer, "But I can't help but still fear that it will happen in the end, if I call you by your name." He sighed as he let himself dropped onto his knees, once again submitting himself in front of Yugi, "I'm sorry, Master, for having this fear - for my failure in trusting you completely." He said as he reached up and fingered his collar again, before his finger travelled into the bronze colored part of the chain.

As soon as he saw it, he narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth angrily, feeling disgusted at what he saw. Disgusted at the fact that it was his chain that was colored like that, and disgusted at himself for causing such color to appear in the first place.

Bronze. The color that was quite close to golden, and yet could be clearly seen just how different it was to gold, for it wasn't as pure as the gold. For the Demons who went under Mutual Contract – who willingly gave themselves up to the people they saw as worthy to be their Master, the color of gold was sacred. The color of gold signified trust and faith, the pureness of the gold that created their Contract Chain showed the world how true their loyalty were.

He knew that he was loyal to Yugi, he knew that he wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice himself if it was for Yugi. And yet, his chain wasn't as pure as how it should be. His chain was tainted, just like how his devotion to Yugi was tainted by his fear. He hated it.

"Yami?" Yugi called out to him, pulling him from his thought.

Yami shook his head to clear it, before he showed his bronze chain to the boy. "This bronze color – the one that began from your end of the chain – this is proof that I don't fully trust you. I'm really sorry about this, Master, but I …" He looked up at Yugi with fear filled eyes, but his love and devotion could be seen clearly as well, "I don't want to take any chance. I don't know if it was a curse or something, but I'm afraid that your care towards me would disappear if I call your name. I'm so scared of it ever happening, that I can't bring myself to even whisper your name behind your back".

"Oh, Yami ..." Yugi cupped his hands on the Demon's cheeks, gently caressing them with love and care. "I love you. You know that, right?" He whispered softly.

"Yes, of course." Yami whispered back as he closed his eyes to enjoy the caressing, letting himself melt under Yugi's gentle care. "I can feel your love every time you check over me, making sure that I'm in my best condition, and fixed me up every time you saw even the smallest of crack. You love me like you would your friend, your family, and your favorite possession." He opened his eyes to gaze lovingly at Yugi again, "I love you so much as well, my Master." He said sincerely, "I love you too much, I think, and this love is what prevent me from calling your name".

"Why is that?" Yugi asked with as much gentleness that he could muster, for he knew that Yami was unstable right now. If Yugi showed even the slightest bit of any negative feelings, then Yami might misunderstood him and thought that he didn't like Yami anymore. He knew that he could do it – talking with Yami about all that troubled Yami without causing more damage than was already done, for he had done it before, back when they were still new in their Demon and Contractor relationship.

"I'm afraid that if I call your name, you would fear me and hate me. I have said that earlier …" Yami answered shamefully, "If that happened, it will kill me, Master." He explained as tears filled his eyes again, and his heart squeezed painfully at the thought of Yugi looking at him fear and hatred filled eyes. "I love you so much, too much. If my fear become reality, it will break me until I become irreparable, it will destroy me." He lowered his eyes sadly again, "I'm sorry for being so weak, Master".

Oh, how he wished that he could kill his own heart - or at least the fear in his heart, so he could become the ideal and perfect servant for Yugi. A perfect doll that would never fail in obeying every single request and order that Yugi asked of him, and the perfect weapon that would never fail in destroying Yugi's enemy, regardless of his own feeling about it. Yugi deserved the best servant and friend – just like how Yugi was the best Master that any Demon could ever get, but his fragile heart prevented him from giving Yugi just that, and Yugi got a weak and unstable servant like him instead.

Not only that he couldn't even fulfill a simple request as calling Yugi by name, but he also couldn't show Golden Chain from Yugi's end – even though the chain from his own end was the purest golden that he had ever seen (a proof that Yugi trust him completely and was truly faithful towards him). For two-toned chain in a Mutual Contract, it was the norm that it was the Master who didn't fully trust or faithful towards the Servant, not the other way around – like in his case. For Contracted Demon like him, he was the worst.

Yugi looked at Yami sadly and knelt down to hug Yami, relaying all of his love and care into that hug. "I would never fear or hate you, Yami. I promise." He whispered firmly, promising to himself to stay true to his words, no matter what.

"Thank you." Yami whispered back as he leaned into the hug, drowning himself into the love and care that he could feel, and relish in it. Although, no matter how much he enjoyed it, it didn't ease the fear in his heart, and he hated himself more than ever in that moment.

Their peaceful silence was destroyed though, when the commotion from the stairs reached them.

"Wait! Akefia!" Atem's voice rang out clearly, "We can't go back yet!".

"Yeah!" Jou's voice reached their ears next, "We have all agreed to give them privacy!".

"Trust me on this, Pharaoh." Akefia answered not long before they entered the living room, "Yami need to hear what I have to say".

"What's going on?" Yugi asked in confusion.

"I just remembered something." Akefia told him before looking at Yami, who was slowly dragging himself out of Yugi's embrace – his face clearly showed his reluctance of moving away from his personal heaven. "That chain, I have seen it before, shining golden bright like the Millennium Items." He said seriously as he dragged Atem with him, all the while ignoring the rest of the group who was trailing after them. "Yami, do you remember who your previous Master was? His name and appearance?" He asked to the point.

"No, I don't." Yami answered slowly with a shake of his head, wondering what this was all about.

"I do." Akefia told him firmly - surprising not only Yami, but the rest of them as well.

"What?" Yami whispered in disbelief.

"You can't remember because his name had been hidden by Magic once, and it's still hidden from you at the moment because you haven't heard his name again yet." Akefia explained seriously, "Your first Master, his name was ... Atem".

Yami's eyes widened hearing the name, and his eyes lost focus as his mind was filled with his memories of his previous Master that was lost before. As soon as he was done remembering, he looked at Atem in shock. "It's true." He whispered to himself, but was heard by everyone anyway.

"What?" Atem gasped out in shock and disbelief. "But if it was me, how come I didn't remember anything about Yami?" He asked Akefia, since the Thief King appeared to know what was exactly going on with his and Yami's past.

Yami's eyes widened, shocked to hear that Atem didn't remember him as well. He didn't remember Atem because Atem's name was hidden by Magic once, so why would Atem not remember him? Fortunately for him, he got his answer soon enough.

"Because you're only one half." Akefia explained to him, "Although you're the one who claim the name of Atem, you're actually only a half of his soul".

"Yes, Yugi is the other half." Atem said in agreement, "But what does it has anything to do with my memories? Both me and Yugi regained all of them, before agreeing that I claim the name – since I was a nameless spirit before that".

"Not all of them, your memory of Yami is still under lock, since your true name is not the key for this particular memory." Akefia told him firmly, certainly confident that he was right, "For 'Atem' to remember about Yami, you and Yugi need to become him, and then hold Yami's Scythe form in your hand".

"So … we need to **Merge**?" Yugi asked for confirmation.

"Yes." Akefia nodded his head in confirmation, "If I'm right – and I'm very sure that I am – then the second **Atem** hold Yami's Scythe form and swing it once, the whole memory would return." He glanced at the others and saw their confused faces, so he sighed and explained more, "It's like this. Atem the Spirit and Yugi merged together and become Pharaoh Atem, this condition acts as – let's say – the padlock. Then Yami in Scythe form will be the Key. Then as Pharaoh Atem swing the Scythe – just like as he did in the past – will act like he is unlocking the padlock that is locking the memory away. That's why, as soon as they did this, the memory will be unlocked".

"Ooh." Came the chorus of understanding from Anzu, Jou, Honda, Mokuba, and Malik. Seto was hiding his reaction, as usual.

Yugi looked back at Yami and cupped his hands on Yami's cheeks again, guiding Yami's head to face him. "Are you alright with this, Yami?" He asked softly, "Will you help us in regaining our memory about you?".

Yami stared at Yugi's eyes for a few more seconds before he nodded. "I want to know …" He whispered softly as he looked at the ground, "I want to know what I have done to make him fear and hate me so".

Yugi looked at Yami sadly, before nodding his head in understanding. "Please remove your spell, Yami." He said in decision, "I will merge with Mou Hitori no Boku now".

Yami nodded and snapped his finger again, and the shadow melt away from Yugi's Spiritual form, leaving only Yami and Atem who could see him. Atem and Yugi nodded with each other before Yugi's Spiritual form disappeared. Atem closed his eyes then, and an Eye of Horus appeared on Atem's forehead soon after, before his whole body glowed quite brightly. By the time the glow died off, his clothes transformed themselves into his full Pharaoh Regalia, completed with his golden jewelry and his winged crown. His skin was tanned even more, and the people in the room could feel the 'Godly' presence that was flowing out of Atem in waves. This boy in front of them wasn't their usual Atem anymore, but the Pharaoh Atem – the Living Horus and the Son of Ra.

Yami blinked in surprise seeing this, and even more surprised when he saw that his Chain was connected to the Pharaoh now, since he had thought that his Chain would disappear when Yugi was merging with Atem – at least, for the duration of it.

Pharaoh Atem looked at Yami and nodded, Yami nodded back and walked over to the Pharaoh. He turned to his Scythe form and floated in place, before the Pharaoh grasped it firmly in his right hand. The Pharaoh swung the Scythe expertly with his hands – using the muscle memory that was within Yugi, before suddenly stopping his movement, making him looked like he was about to strike using the Scythe.

It was then that the world darkened, as if fading away around the Pharaoh, as his mind remembering his memory that had happened 3.000 years ago.

 _Prince Atem – looked about 10 years old – looked up at the strange being who fell onto his balcony, fear showed clearly in his eyes._

" _Who are you?" The boy asked hesitantly, gripping the dagger in his hands tightly, "What … are you?"._

 _The being – a cloaked pale boy who looked shockingly like him – halted in his action of climbing the railings and looked back at Atem. "I'm a nameless Demon." The boy said simply, before jumping over the railings._

 _Atem gasped and hurried over to the railings to look down, but couldn't see anyone below._

 _Prince Atem – still 10 years old – glared at the Assassins in front of him, hands balled into fists. He was afraid that they would kill him, since it was what they were there for, but he didn't want to show it by closing his eyes. So he just glared at them, waiting for them to kill him since he had nowhere to run anymore._

 _A noise at the balcony door's direction pulled his attention – grateful at the distraction, and saw the Nameless Demon from before. The Demon caught his eyes, before raising his right hand. Atem returned his attention to the two Assassins in front of him, and was surprised when he saw their own shadow choking them. He looked back at the Demon, who waved his hand towards the open balcony doors, and Atem was surprised when the Assassins were thrown out in the next second._

" _Why are you protecting me?" Atem asked the boy without moving from his spot._

" _You looks like me, so I'm interested." The Demon replied without moving from his own spot._

" _You won't hurt me?" Atem asked as he hesitantly walked over towards the Demon._

" _No." The Demon answered simply._

 _Atem offered his right hand. "My name is Atem." He introduced himself quietly._

" _Still nameless, so call me anything you want." The Demon said while taking Atem's hand and shook it lightly._

" **From today onwards, your name is Kkwy.** _" Atem – now looked about 11 years old – said to the Demon who was kneeling while being chained in front of him, "_ **I – Prince Atem, Son of Pharaoh Akhnamkanon – am your Master, and with this Contract I bind you to myself to be my Servant and Friend, Demon Scythe Kkwy** _"._

 _The Magic circle below the Demon and the chains around his body brightened their glow in response, and the Demon sighed happily._

" **Prince Atem.** _" Kkwy said in response, "_ **I – Demon Scythe Kkwy – am your Servant and Friend, and I accept this Contract to bind myself to you in exchange for your Protection, My Master and Friend** _"._

" _Kkwy!" Atem – now looked about 18 years old Pharaoh – called out as he looked around, searching for said Demon, "Where is he?"._

'I'm sorry, My Pharaoh.'

 _His eyes widened as he heard Kkwy's voice in his head, and he felt a stab of pain in his heart. "Kkwy?" He whispered in confusion, before looking down at his wrist when he heard strange noise, only to gasp in shock._

 _His Contract Bracelet and the chain that connected him to his friend had turned black, a sign of a broken Contract – a broken promise._

What's going on? _He thought dreadfully._

 _The Pharaoh panted as he saw Zork being chained and then pulled into the darkness. He had just chanted the spell that would seal Zork, but at the price of his own live, and he could feel the pull on his Soul already._

'Kkwy, I don't know where you are now … nor do I know why you left me, but I have something to tell you.' _He told his friend telepathically as his sight began to blur, although he didn't know if his friend could hear it or not,_ 'I … I love you, Kkwy'.

 _As soon as he sent that thought through his Link with his friend, he screamed in pain as his something was ripped from his body, and he fell to the ground. He closed his eyes as his energy left him, and he knew no more._

Pharaoh Atem blinked as his vision returned to the present, and he looked down at the Scythe in his hands in a new light. All of his memories and feelings towards Kkwy returned to him, his confusion upon Kkwy's disappearance, and the sadness that he couldn't tell his friend that he loved the Demon. All of it rushed back into him, leaving him breathless.

"Kkwy …" The Pharaoh breathed out in awe, "Oh, wait. You're Yami now".

"So, you remembered everything now?" Akefia asked him.

"Uhh, yeah." The Pharaoh answered him, before looking at the Scythe in his hand again, "Yami, you can turn back now".

The Scythe glowed darkly and changed form into Yami once again. "I saw it." Yami said right away as he locked eyes with the Pharaoh, "I saw the memories as well – through my Link with Yugi, but I don't understand".

"What is?" Pharaoh Atem asked him gently, just like how he talked to Yami long ago.

"Why were you searching for me?" Yami asked him in confusion, "You sent an Assassin to kill me, so why bothered trying to find me? Was it to keep up appearance?".

"No, Yami!" Pharaoh Atem gasped in shock, "I never sent an Assassin to kill you!".

"But …" Yami tried to argue with him, although a bit reluctantly.

Someone cleared their throat, and they looked at the source to see that it was Akefia. "Actually, Yami, I was the one who sent that Assassin." He admitted with a weak smirk.

"You did?" Yami asked in surprise, "But why did the Assassin say that it was the Pharaoh?".

"Simple, I told the Assassin to tell you that." Akefia told him with a sigh, knowing that it was his time to tell his story now. "I hated the Pharaoh and wanted to kill him in the past, remember?" He asked the Demon, though everyone heard him and they nodded in answer. "This is a secret that no one knew about, I can see this Contract Chain through my bond with Diabound. So, when I was gathering information about the Pharaoh to find his weakness, I happened to see him one day and saw that he had a bracelet with chain on him. I was curious, but I couldn't just ask the Pharaoh about it, so I searched for someone else with a similar bracelet and chain to interrogate. That's when I found out that the Pharaoh made a Contract with a Demon, and I knew that I had to get rid of the Demon first if I want to kill the Pharaoh".

"Because my Contract with Pharaoh Atem enabled him to become Immortal." Yami finished for him, earning a nod from Akefia.

"Yeah, exactly." Akefia sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck, "I did all that to separate you two, but before I could kill the Pharaoh, that bastard Akhunadin betrayed him first, and then the whole Zork fiasco happened".

"Yami?" Pharaoh Atem called out to him in concern. He had noticed that – instead of looking relieved that he didn't want to kill the Demon in the past – Yami had become even more depressed. "What's wrong? Why do you look so depressed? Aren't you happy that I wasn't the one who sent that Assassin?".

"I'm happy about it." Yami answered softly as he looked down at the floor, "But I'm even more disgusted with myself now".

"What?!" The Pharaoh gasped out in shock, "But why?" He asked in confusion, wondering why Yami felt like that.

Yami's right hand reached out towards his collar again, but the look on his face was that of self-hatred, and not the satisfied look that they had seen earlier. "How could I believe that my own Master sent an Assassin to kill me? Just because the Assassin told me that?!" He growled hatefully, but it was clear that Yami addressed those words to no one but himself, "I should have been more faithful than that!" He cried out as closed his eyes, his hand gripped his collar harder.

Pharaoh Atem felt Yami's intention through the Link – which Yami had with Yugi – and opened his mouth to stop the Demon, but Akefia beat him to it.

"Yami! Wait!" Akefia called out as he grabbed Yami's hand tightly, earning him everyone's attention, "Don't you dare go down the path of self-destruct." He growled seriously.

"Release me, Thief King." Yami growled back, his violet eyes gained a more reddish hue – making them looked like there was fire inside them.

"No." Akefia replied firmly, "Not until you hear me out, and until I'm finished talking".

"Then speak already!" Yami demanded angrily.

"You're the most faithful Demon to ever have a Contract with a human, so don't ever think otherwise." Akefia told him, and he hurried to continue before Yami could retort, "The Assassin that I sent to kill you a long time ago was very skilled in planting suggestion in people's mind." He explained, "I know that – as how humans normally do – the Pharaoh was most likely scared of you when you two first met, so I told the Assassin to tell you that he was paid to kill you because the Pharaoh feared you, because I knew that the memory would come to the surface of your mind. It's a tactic that I thought would be successful in stopping you from fighting back, and I was right. You didn't doubt the Pharaoh one bit, Yami, it was the Assassin who made you believe it".

"So, my mind was manipulated?" Yami asked in disbelief, but his hand released its grip on the collar.

"Kind of." Akefia nodded his head in agreement, "He said that it's harder to manipulate a Demon's mind, so he just pulled out your greatest fear at the time – which was about you having done something to make the Pharaoh fear you, and amplify it using his 'suggestion planting' ability".

Yami realized that it was true. He was afraid to do something that would make the Pharaoh feared him, that was why he always watched what he was doing and watching the Pharaoh carefully, so he would know if any sign of the Pharaoh grew scared of him right away. He sighed in relief, and – unknown to him – the bronze color that was in his chain and collar had changed into pure gold at that moment.

"Yami!" Yugi – who had unmerged with Atem when Akefia was talking – called out happily, causing Yami to open his eyes and looked at Yugi in question. "Your collar! And the Chain! They're pure gold now!" He cried out excitedly.

Yami's eyes shot to the chain that was connecting them immediately, and he gasped when he saw that it was true. Gone was the bronze, there was only golden color on his chain now. Tears of happiness filled his eyes, and he tackle hugged Yugi. "Gold Chain! I can finally show you Gold Chain." He sobbed out as he tightened his hug, "Oh, Master, I think I can die happy now." He said happily as he pulled back to look at Yugi in the eyes.

"I'm glad that you're happy, Yami." Yugi told him with a wide grin on his face, happy that Yami was so happy now – instead of just feeling content about being together, "But don't you dare die before I give you my permission".

"Yes, Master." Yami answered happily. His heart felt so light, like it was going to burst out of his chest and fly away.

"Yugi." Yugi corrected him with a gentle smile, "Now that you know that Pharaoh Atem didn't fear or hate you, you can call me by my name now, right?".

Yami's eyes softened. "Yes, Yugi." He said with a voice that was just as soft, before he closed his eyes and nuzzled his head to Yugi's, "I like calling you my Master though".

Yugi just snorted and shook his head fondly. "Only you, Yami." He muttered as he patted Yami's head, "Only you".

After that, the group fell in silence. All of them were either still letting everything sink in, or just enjoying the comfortable silence, or just didn't know what to say anymore.

Finally, Seto couldn't stand the silent anymore, so he cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention. "Well, we didn't get to go picnic today, so how about we go have lunch together instead?" He asked them as he made an unnecessary move of tidying his coat, "My treat".

"Burger World?" Yugi immediately asked eagerly.

"If that's what you want." Seto answered with a shrug.

The group's expression immediately brightened, and they immediately voiced out their agreement eagerly. So, off to the Burger World they were.

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To be continued . . .

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Froim : Review Please ^ ^


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Gi Oh!**

 _Thought / Dreams / Event from the past_

' _Telepathy'_

 _/Broadcast Telepathy/_

"Dialogue"

" _Speaking in Spirit form"_

Letter

 **Emphasis**

 _ **Dangerous Tone / Spell**_

 _ **Epilogue**_

"Can't sleep, Yami?" Yugi asked as he turned around on his bed, looking at the Demon who shared his bed.

Yugi and Yami had always been sleeping on the same room in the past millennia, except when one of Yugi's friends decided to sleep over (or when Atem decided to sleep outside of the Millennium Puzzle) – then Yami would sleep within Yugi's shadow in his Scythe form. Now though, after Yami's fear of Yugi becoming afraid of him had gone, they were sleeping on the same bed – instead of Yami sleeping on a futon beside Yugi's bed. That was why Yugi could feel it when Yami couldn't sleep now.

Yami stopped pretending that he was asleep and let out a sigh, before sitting up on the bed to look at Yugi. "I have a request, Master." He admitted shyly after a few more seconds.

Yugi sat up as well and turned to face Yami. "What is it?" He asked curiously.

"Is Atem awake?" Yami asked him instead of answering.

Hearing that, Yugi mentally woke Atem and asked him to come out. A second after that, Atem's spirit form appeared, then he sat beside Yugi.

"What is it, Yami?" Atem asked him, just as curious as Yugi felt.

"Um, I know that I already Contracted to Yugi, but I want to have a Contract with you too, Atem." Yami finally told them what was preventing him from going to sleep.

"But you said that a Demon could only have one Master." Yugi pointed out with a tilt of his head, "How do you form a Contract with two people?".

"Well, there is a way." Yami answered nervously as he fingered his collar – who was now invisible to the eyes of everyone but Yugi and Yami, "You and Atem are two halves of the same Soul, so if we break this one and then I form another Contract with the both of you as Pharaoh Atem, I can have two Masters – since you two are considered as one Soul".

"Then …" Atem began as he looked confused at Yami, "What's the problem?".

Before Yami could answer, Yugi knew the answer already. "You want to know if Atem is willing to be tied to you, and if I would agree to share you." He stated as he looked at Yami, who nodded his head silently while looking down, a blush coloring his face. Yugi looked at Atem with a raised eyebrow, asking his opinion.

"Well, I don't mind being tied to you, Yami." Atem told Yami, causing the Demon to look at him in surprise, "As long as you accept our friendship".

"I will, now that I know that what had happened in the past was Akefia's doing." Yami answered him with a smile, before looking hopefully at Yugi, "Do you mind sharing me, Master?".

"As long as you're happy, Yami." Yugi told him gently with a warm smile.

"I'm happy." Yami reassured him, while beaming at him to proof that he was happy with it.

"Alright." Yugi nodded at him in approval, "How do we break our Contract again?".

"Simple." Yami said cheerfully, "You just need to touch my collar and say, 'I release thee from my bind, Demon Scythe Yami'. Then I will say 'I accept my freedom'. After that, our Chain will evaporate and we will be freed from our Contract." He explained with a smile on his face, before his expression turned serious, "Although, because your body is 1.000 years old already and you will return to a mortal state after our Contract is gone, we need to perform the new Contract immediately, or you will die in less than an hour".

"So, as soon as our Contract is gone, I and Atem have to Merge right away, right?" Yugi asked the Demon for confirmation, which answered with a nod by Yami, "Okay then, let's do it now." He decided firmly as he reached out a hand to Yami's collar.

"Let's get into the position first." Yami suggested as he held Yugi's hand gently, "We can't do it in this bed, since I need to kneel in front of you while you stand before me, or I will be forced to kneel again – and it will be a bit painful if I'm forced".

"Uhh, right." Yugi said in realization.

So, Yugi and Yami got out of the bed and stood in the middle of the room, then Yami knelt down in front of Yugi, while Atem floated near Yugi.

Yugi then touched Yami's collar, " _ **I release thee from my bind, Demon Scythe Yami.**_ " He stated softly.

The chain – along with Yami's collar and Yugi's bracelet – began to glow.

" _ **I accept my freedom.**_ " Yami said in grateful tone.

The glow brightened before the chain, collar, and bracelet evaporated. There was nothing that connected Yugi with Yami anymore, and they suddenly felt empty. It didn't stop them though. Yugi and Atem immediately merged and become Pharaoh Atem once again, and then – surprising Yami – he began chanting the Incantation to bind them together in a Contract. Once he was done, a Magic circle appeared beneath him and Yami, with Yami being the center. Just like the last two times, chains shot up into the air from within the circle, before they wrapped themselves around Yami's kneeling form – Yami wasn't forced to kneel this time, since he was kneeling already.

" _ **From today onwards, your name is Yami.**_ " Pharaoh Atem stated to Yami with a voice full of authority, " _ **I – Pharaoh Atem, Son of Akhnamkanon and beloved Son of Ra – am your Master, and with this Contract I bind you to myself to be my Friend; my Servant; and my Sword and Shield, Demon Scythe Yami**_ ".

The Magic circle and the chains around Yami's body brightened their glow in response to Atem's statement, and Yami sighed in contentment as his whole being was filled with the warm of the binding magic – it was a feeling that he had missed. When he bound himself to Yugi one thousand years ago, he didn't feel like that because he was still harboring his fear of being hated and feared. Now that his fear has disappeared though, he felt the happiness and contentment of being claimed again.

Yami never told Yugi – or Pharaoh Atem – about this, but all of the Demons who haven't lost their way were very submissive in nature. Being claimed by someone they deemed as worthy of their service was their greatest honor and dream, so he was very happy and content that Pharaoh Atem claimed him as His again.

" _ **Pharaoh Atem.**_ " Yami said once he managed to pull himself out of his rapture, " _ **I – Demon Scythe Yami – am your Friend; your Servant; and your Sword and Shield, and I accept this Contract to bind myself to you in exchange for your Guidance, My Master and Friend**_ ".

Right away, the Magic circle and the chains glowed almost blindingly, before breaking apart into countless light shards – only to immediately reform themselves into a chain that connected Yami and the Pharaoh. A Golden Collar formed around Yami's neck, and a Golden Chain connected from it to a Golden Wrist Guard, which was formed on the Pharaoh's right wrist – his original wrist guard came off on its own.

Yami smiled as he picked up the Pharaoh's dropped item, before standing up and gazed lovingly at his new Master, who smiled back at him. "Your wrist guard, Até." He said as he offered the said item to the Pharaoh.

"Thank you, Yami." Pharaoh Atem replied as he took it, then stored it in the Shadow Realm a second later.

"Ate, there's something that I want to ask before you go back into being Yugi and Atem." Yami spoke just as the Pharaoh began glowing again, which caused the Pharaoh to stop what he was about to do and looked at Yami questioningly. "Your last memory, just before your Soul was taken for the ritual …" Yami began hesitantly, "You said – well, telepathically – to me that you love me. Is this true?" He looked at the Pharaoh right in the eyes as he asked that, and he paid attention to his new Link to feel what the Pharaoh was feeling at the moment.

The Pharaoh smiled gently as he caressed Yami's cheek with his hand. "Yes, Yami." He answered softly, "I love you then, and I love you now, and I will love you forever".

Yami blushed and looked away, feeling rather embarrassed to hear it, but he was happy nonetheless. "I love you too." He replied as he stepped closer to the Pharaoh, "That was why I didn't hate you when I thought that you wanted to kill me, I love you too much to hate you".

"I know." The Pharaoh whispered with a sigh, "From my memories that I got through Yugi, I remembered that I had a nightmare of the day you got stabbed in that Cave. I think I saw your memory about it that night, because I felt your emotion throughout the whole thing. You didn't hate me, but you were hurt, so you let yourself get stabbed through the heart because you thought that it would be the best for the both of us".

"I'm sorry." Yami whispered back as his eyes traveled to the floor, "If only my mind was strong enough, then I would see the manipulation and fight back. I promised you that I would always be with you, but I let myself got … killed? No, um, I let myself got shut down instead. I broke my promise with you, broke our Contract, so you were Mortal once again. I'm sorry".

"It's alright." Pharaoh Atem reassured him as he cupped both of Yami's cheeks, then his eyes searching Yami's eyes so he could lock eyes with Yami, "I have forgiven you millenniums ago, Little Darkness".

Yami's lips curled up into a small smile at hearing his nickname, and he leaned his forehead against the Pharaoh's. "Thank you." He said sincerely.

"You're welcome." The Pharaoh responded as he leaned forward, then he pressed their lips together for a chaste kiss, before pulling back a few seconds later. "Promise me that we will stay together for the rest of our life this time." He said seriously as he looked at Yami in the eyes, "Don't leave me again".

Yami's smile widened as he wrapped his arms around the Pharaoh and hugged him tightly. "I promise." He stated firmly as he closed his eyes to fully enjoy the embrace, "This time, for sure, I won't leave you ever again if I can help it".

Pharaoh Atem's form glowed before he became two again, without breaking his – their – hug with Yami. "This time, we also promise you that we won't ever leave you if we can help it." Yugi and Atem spoke together as they tightened their hug.

"Thank you." Yami answered softly and happily, and he knew that his heart would burst up in happiness if it could.

This time, they knew that nothing would separate them again, they would make sure of it.

 _ **Fin**_

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There you go. This is the last chapter of Shinigami Yugi. Thank you for reading, following, favorite-ing, and reviewing my story.

There will be a sequel for this story, but it's going to be a crossover with Harry Potter (I got hooked), it's going to be called 'The Clashing of Magic'.

Do you want me to write a prequel for this one too? So you will get the full story of Pharaoh Atem, Yami, and Yugi's past? Or do you want me to just leave it as a mystery? What do you think?

Also, do any of you would like to write M-rate one-shots for me? I would really like reading M-rate blindshipping, puzzleshipping, or mobiumshipping one-shots that are based on my stories – especially with Seme!Yugi. Please contact me – through review or PM – if any of you are interested. Thank you.

Review Please ^ ^

Fragments of Imagination


	7. Announcement

_**Announcement**_

This is not an update since the story has been completed, I'm sorry. I just want to inform you guys that the sequel for this story is already out, but I want to apologize for being late in informing you guys about it – the sequel already have 5 chapters now.

The sequel's title is 'The Clashing of Magic', it's crossover with Harry Potter, as I have said. The link is www. Fanfiction s/12352425/1/ (Just remove the spaces)

Thank you for reading this announcement. I hope you will be interested in reading the sequel.

Fragments of Imagination.


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